Ondine

I have watched just about every movie you can think off. Ondine is one of the best I have ever watched. The characters are intriguing and complex, the mystery of the silk leaves it all to the imagination. Simply marvelous acting from Colin Farrell and The beautiful and stunning Alicja Bachleda and great cast of supporting actors. 10/10 cinema photography and script is masterfully written. Ondine should have won an Academy Award. I think this movie shows the diversity of the role that Colin Farrell can perform. I was still thinking about Miami Vice for the first five minutes of the film but then his accent and role was flawless. Well done mate top performance and why wouldn't you accept the role with Alicja who holds the screen in her own right and she made the water look like she belonged there!

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.

I know the myth of Ondine from the eponymous ballet. Let's just say this version is a bit more upbeat. Although there is a sense of foreboding through much of the film, this film's story of hope, love and belief is ultimately tender and optimistic.

The story begins when an Irish fisherman pulls up a young woman in his net. His daughter believes her to be a mythical creature, the young woman plays the role convincingly, and the fisherman just takes it day by day as most recovering alcoholics do, experiencing the young woman as a lucky charm and sexually entrancing...then danger begins to lurk. Ensuing plot twists further develop the characters, and their actions and fates are congruent with their personalities.

Colin Farrell is perfect for the role of an imperfect man who makes the best of adversity. Alicja Bachleda is convincing as a mysterious, frightened, resourceful but not entirely innocent creature. Alison Barry conveys strength not pathos in the role of a young girl who is more intelligent and thoughtful than her peers from a life spent in medical treatments.

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!