温蒂妮

Reuniting with his two stars in TRANSIT (2018), German dramatist Christian Petzold’s ninth picture UNDINE is a reimagining of the folkloric myth of the titular aquatic nymph.

In present Berlin, Undine (Beer) is a historian freelancing as a docent of the city’s urban renewal history, right from the word go, in a coffee shop near her working place, she encounters a breakup with boyfriend Johannes (Matschenz), during which, she threatens, if he leaves her, she has to kill him and he knows it, however, after some initial oscillation, Johannes eventually leaves.

Later, in the same coffee shop, when looking for Johannes, Undine comes across Christoph (Rogowski), an independent diver. Awash with the water from an exploding aquarium nearby, their coup de foudre is a predestination transmitted by water, and their ensuing romance is symbolized by a diver figurine in the foregoing aquarium, which Christoph gifts her afterwards, but soon the figure breaks, an omen that their long-distant relationship is not at all, an easy ride.

Without giving away too many clues, Petzold captivates us with the divine, scintillating underwater sequences of the lovers (Undine is carried off by a giant catfish), underpinning Undine’s numinous affinity to the liquid world without startling Christoph’s suspicion, it is an accident in his eyes and all is well after all. When disruption finally transpires, it is another inexplicably preternatural happenstance that pulls wool over viewers’ eyes (who is the night caller?), and in retrospect, all can be boiled down to the curse Undine coldly uttered in the beginning.

An Undine must kill her lover who breaks the promise of love, if not, she will endanger any given successors, and herself as well. Fatality pervades henceforth, the curse is fulfilled, Christoph miraculously awakes from the coma but, him and Undine are divided by two different worlds, only one place they can be together ephemerally. On the strength of Beer and Rogowski’s tried-and-tested chemistry, UNDINE is a far more intimate, tender love story that is timeless, Beer's BEST ACTRESS win in Berlin proves that she is currently, the new face of German cinema and her oceanic restraint and underplayed tenacity strangely do not look her age (she was born in 1995). Rogowski, distinct for cleft lip and garbled elocution, is also a marvel to behold, a superfine performer of lovelorn possessiveness.

By and large, UNDINE, with its concurrent Bach-fused symphony, comes off as a beguiling fairy-tale, a doomed, wistful love affair that doesn’t actually go anywhere, save for its artistically arresting cinematography and two outstanding leading performances that we can savor without compunction.

referential entries: Petzold’s TRANSIT (2018, 7.5/10), PHOENIX (2014, 7.8/10); Guillermo del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017, 8.1/10).