Ondine

I respond well to movies with honesty and heart, and Ondine has plenty of both. Set in an Irish fishing town, you can also feel the love and respect of the filmmaker for the rugged and beautiful setting. The performances are excellent, with especially good work by the the young Alison Barry playing the part of Colin Farrell's daughter, who suffers from kidney failure and must undergo regular dialysis (reminded me of the early work of Dakota Fanning).

The film's "feel" is a bit darker than I expected, making the injections of wry Irish humor in Colin's confessions to the priest (played by Stephen Rea) even more enjoyable. The script keeps you wondering until very near the end, "Is this really a modern fairy tale, or is there a more earthly explanation?" The soundtrack is appropriately plaintive, with songs by Lisa Hannigan and others. I definitely plan to buy the soundtrack. Because this film is low-key and thoughtful, it probably will not receive the attention from audiences it deserves. But serious moviegoers should take the time to watch, enjoy and appreciate.

The performances in this are just great. Combined with an equally good story, this makes for a very entertaining movie. Entertaining in the sense a story you might like to hear as a bedtime story. There are no big effects here and even great emotional scenes don't feel forced or heightened in any way.

While the main actress is beautiful, she is also good acting wise. And it is necessary, because her character (also the name of the movie) really carries this. Along with Colin F. of course, who has to take a few steps back and be really "quiet" ... kinda like the exact opposite of what you would imagine him to be in real life ... which also shows the strength in his performance!

old tale. and its new pieces. a film about heart of solitude, force of myth, beauty of faith. and love as arena of freedom. mystery, legend, the image of a child about a woman, a fisherman with many problems and a kind of spell. a not special movie with science to give crumbs of delicate emotions and to make a legend more profound. not very right in details but exercise of good art to create emotion. and nice occasion to understand the limits of reality as fruit of dream. a interesting surprise - role of Colin Farell. a smart way to sustain drawing of character - dialogs with the priest and circle of past. delicate solution to create a gray world with fragile borders. inspired music and images. a good movie. not extraordinary. just beautiful. like each slice of life.

I did not expect this... SUPER film which is a hidden gem. So enjoyed the story- gives hope for the lost soul's of the world. A must see for anyone who enjoys luck and tragedy crossing paths and resulting in a feel good ending. I would buy this in a heartbeat.

I was intrigued from the beginning and can see why it was nominated for awards. Have no idea why it did not do better in the box office? Perhaps this was just not marketed correctly...

For parents... the rating is about right. Young teens would probably enjoy this, but may be a hair heavy for the under 10 crowd.

Final note- I would watch it again and enjoy it just the same if not more.

An unsuccessful fisherman named Syracuse is shocked when he pulls up a strange women in his fishing nets. She can't explain who she is or how she got in the water, but she doesn't want anyone besides Syracuse to see her. Syracuse must attempt to unravel the mystery or who or what she really is while trying to patch up his relationship with his ex-wife and take care of his sickly daughter.

Ondine possesses a style all it's own. It successfully blurs the line between fantasy and reality until the audience doesn't really know where one ends and the other begins. But, at it's heart Ondine is really about relationships and finding hope in desperate situations.

You truly care about all the characters and this is achieved by excellent performances from all the leads. Especially Alison Barry who is an amazing child actress and absolutely inspired as Annie, Syracuse's ailing daughter. Annie is convinced that Ondine is a Selke and revels in living in a fantasy that is much easier than her own life. The chemistry between Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda is another high point.

Ondine is not without it's flaws though. At points the drama can seem forced and it was starting to lose me towards the end. The ending is a little crazy as well, but that is fairly easy to forgive when considering all that works in the movie.

Ondine is an extremely heartfelt story and deserves a lot of praise for originality alone. I believe it is certainly worth watching at least once and hopefully it will get the attention it deserves.