So, after "Jesse's Story" I'm talking with director Marc Jacobs and getting ready to leave and my niece. Kayleigh, and her friend, Monika, come into the Island Theater. They are going to see "Ondine," an Irish film starring Colin Farrell. Now the reason I mention this is because nowhere on the movie schedule does it show the screening. And since I'm on the press email list and also signed up for the NBFF Facebook page I would have expected something to come my way regarding this film. It does appear in the program but not the movie schedule chart where everyone goes to find out what is playing when and where.
Obviously there was a typo or omission of some sort; you'd think someone, somewhere would have wanted people to see a film with a major star in it and that they would have taken some measures to bring it forward.
"Ondine" is delightful. A romantic-comedy about a recovering alcoholic fisherman (Colin Farrell) who one day brings a gorgeous woman (Alicja Bachleda) up in his net, the film was shot on location somewhere that is obviously a fishing town in Ireland by Neil Jordan who also wrote the script. It was probably the best film I saw that wasn't a documentary and I nearly missed it because no one at NBFF (or the filmmakers) bothered to let us know. Thank god that my niece told me about it.
Some synopses say that the Alicja Bacjleda character is a mermaid which is wrong. She's thought to be a selki which is a seal who can shed his or her skin and become human. There is a rich mythology about these creatures and rules to
their interaction with humans. John Sayles did "The Secret of Roan Inish" in 1994 about a selki using the same mythologies and gorgeous sceneries that Jordan did although the story is much different.
The dialogue and interactions between Farrell and his daughter, the stunningly good actress Alison Barry, and his sponsor and parish priest, Steven Rea, is hilarious and incredibly well done.
All the performances in this film are excellent. Bachleda maintains a great balance between innocence and raw sexiness. Young Alison Barry is so funny and perfect you'd swear she is not acting at all. Farrell himself is pitch-on as a lonely fisherman who has trouble articulating what's deep inside him and unable to trust any good fortune that comes his way. With his sparky, precocious daughter suffering from kidney failure and him struggling to maintain his sobriety and figure out his life, the character Farrell plays is superbly nuanced and interesting. Farrell has a wonderful way of creating a character who acts like a sh*t but is still very likable. I'd imagine he's that way in real life too since it seems so natural to him.
The film is magical in the way it keeps you on the edge of discovery about the layers of these people's lives with a startling ending reveal that wraps everything up nicely. Jordan is at his peak here, using all his skills as a writer and filmmaker to bring this story to delightful life.
The only dark spot (literally) was the print. It was so dark that it became bothersome. I don't know if this was a technical issue or a cinematographic one.
My niece dished some dirt afterwards telling me that Farrel and co-star Bachleda were an item and she has had his baby. Life to some measure immitating art apparently.
See "Ondine." I'm sure you'll like it as much as everyone at the screening did. It will transport you to a magical yet very real place.
As the tagline goes: The truth is not what you know. It's what you believe.
