By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Christian Petzold
Starring: Anne Ratte-Polle | Franz Rogowski | Jacob Matschenz | Maryam Zaree | Paula Beer
Country: france, germany
Year: 2021
Running time: 91
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11617052/reference
Michael says: “Apparently German director Petzold, has built up quite a following with his last three films (TRANSIT, PHOENIX, BARBARA) and his latest, UNDINE, is a bit of a change of style for him. An undine is a mythical water spirit who becomes human when she falls in love with a man, but is destined to die if he is unfaithful to her. As UNDINE opens, a young woman is at a cafe with her boyfriend Johannes, listening silently as he breaks up with her to be with another woman. The young woman implores him to think this through, because if he goes through with it, he will have to die. Not exactly a threat, but perhaps an act of self-preservation? The woman, whose name happens to be Undine, asks Johannes to remain at the cafe for half an hour while she gives a talk on historic Berlin, after which she will return. When Undine returns to find Johannes gone, she is surprised and a bit lost, so when Christoff, a young man who had attended her talk, approaches her, she barely responds. When a sudden, dramatic accident occurs, that literally tosses the two into each others arms, Undine seems to forget about Johannes and moves on. But myths have certain rules that must be follows, and this one is no exception.
“What keeps this potentially melodramatic romantic fantasy grounded so well is the matter-of-fact, yet slightly otherworldly performance of Paula Beer, and the hyper-realistic setting Petzold situates his fantastic tale. Characters make decisions based on life, not just their heart, so the fact that Undine has a job is important, and she can’t just ignore it to pursue her heart’s desire. The more I think about UNDINE, the more I like it, so while this movies wasn’t one of the two ‘great’ ones… it was damn good. 4 cats
“IFFBoston Fall Focus 2020”
Upon second viewing, and also now having seen PHOENIX and TRANSIT, and getting a better appreciation of Petzold’s work, I’m giving UNDINE another half cat boost. I already mentioned Beers terrific performance, but I’m even more impressed the second time around, as I am with her co-star, Franz Rogowski. Everything is beautifully understated here, but i can actually see them falling in love, which is really lovely. It’s fascinating to be immersed in such a traditionally mythical tale yet have it inhabiting such an ordinary… or perhaps I should say, real world. Still have to go back and watch BARBARA, and perhaps I’ll even try his five films before that! 4 1/2 cats