Film Review: Ondine

Published on Thursday 4 March 2010 18:23

ONDINE (12A) *** DIRECTED BY: NEIL JORDAN STARRING: COLIN FARRELL, ALICJA BACHLEDA, ALISON BARRY, STEPHEN REA

AFTER flailing with The Brave One, Neil Jordan returns to his native Ireland to film another contemporary fairytale. The folklore of Ondine – specifically that of the "selkie", the sea creature who ventures onto land to win a mortal's heart – is familiar from John Sayles' The Secret of Roan Inish, but younger viewers might just enjoy it as a live-action Ponyo. Syracuse (Colin Farrell), a divorced, alcoholic fisherman, gets a shock when a half-drowned girl ends up in his nets. He initially suspects she's an asylum seeker, she magically triples his catch; no wonder he's soon falling overboard for her.

Jordan makes one obvious concession to movielore – this selkie (Bachleda) is a leggy supermodel type clad in diaphanous dresses – and there's an awkward tonal shift late on as Ondine's true identity is revealed. Still, Farrell's soulfully salty, and Stephen Rea is typically wry as a priest who senses traditional Catholicism is no match for this siren's song. This film never lacks for poetry – and, almost needless to say, Jordan's Ireland is far more convincing than Leap Year's.