CINEMA: Ondine

Neil Jordan has always liked making films based on fairytales, myths and legends and so the fact his newest outing is based on the legend of the Selkie isn’t surprising.

Selkies are the Scottish islands’ version of mermaids – seals that take on the shape of human females in order to ensnare the hearts of fishermen. Here, the action takes place in Ireland, where fisherman Syracuse (Colin Farrell) pulls up his nets one day to find a beautiful woman trapped in with all the fish. Initially, he thinks she might be dead but Ondine (Alicja Bachleda)is very much alive, although a total mystery. Who is she? How did she get in the nets? Why does she seem so nervous and why does she not wish to be seen by other people?

Syracuse hides her away in an abandoned cabin, but slowly his community becomes aware of her and starts asking questions. One of the most inquisitive of the townsfolk is Syracuse’s own ailing daughter Annie (Alison Barry) who really does view Ondine as a mermaid – a magical creature who can spirit her away from her real life troubles and worries. But real life isn’t that far away and is about to catch up with Ondine, and when it does Syracuse will have to save her from the dangers she thought she had left behind and come to terms with his own troubled past.

There is much to enjoy here, not least some glorious cinematography (by Chris Doyle of Rabbit-Proof Fence fame) of the breathtaking coast around Castletownbere, a real working fishing town in Cork, and the irreverent sparkiness of Alison Barry as Annie.

But, ultimately, Jordan tries to shoehorn in too many disparate themes (illegal immigration, smuggling, disability, alcoholism and organ transplants) and so a simple fairytale is swamped in prosaic dramas pulling the narrative in so many different directions the film’s initial message becomes swamped and drowns.