Ondine Review
By David Kempler
Splash, Irish-Style
German folklore tells of an immortal water nymph. It says that if she falls in love with a mortal and bears his child, that she will lose her immortality. In "Ondine", the latest Neil Jordan outing, the scene is Ireland, but otherwise it's pretty much the same.
Syracuse (Colin Farrell) is a local fisherman, who nets a very large fish. This fish is a woman (Alicja Bachleda). Just like Darryl Hannah in "Splash", she is a most beautiful woman. I don't think I've ever seen a mermaid -type who wasn't extraordinarily beautiful. Sadly, this Ondine is dead in the net. But wait. Yes, she is alive! Imagine my shock. What choice does Syracuse have, but to take today's catch home with him?
Syracuse lives with his young daughter, Annie (Alison Barry), who suffers from medical problems that sometimes confine her to a wheelchair. Of course, she is incredibly precocious and wiser than all the adults. I shouldn't have been surprised. There are no stupid children on screen.
Syracuse is confused by his new housemate. What is she? Why is she here? Why has she appeared in his life? Has this non-practicing alcoholic lapsed back into his previously drunken stupors? Nope. He's still clean. Could it be that she really is an Ondine?
With the help of Annie, Syracuse becomes a believer and the fairy tale is underway. For the first time ever, Syracuse is actually happy. But this would not be a story worth telling if everything was good all the time. Enter reality, and it's not a pretty one. Others show up to ruin the Garden of Eden that Syracuse has found himself in, and not everyone is as they appear to be.
But it's when the stuff hits the fan in "Ondine" that the film comes together and works. It's part fairy tale, part relationship between men and women and parents and their children and partly about the evil that people do to each other, especially when money is on the line. Despite my flippant tone here, I enjoyed it. It's not one of Jordan's best but it's worthwhile. Look past its clichés and immerse yourself in the healing waters of "Ondine".
