Filmed in the wilds of West Cork and the beautiful Castletownbere, the latest movie from Neil Jordan hits the big screens from March 5th. Starring Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda, Ondine tells the story of a fisherman who catches more than a few flounders in his nets.
Syraceuse, or Circus as he’s better known around the town is a fisherman who hasn’t had a decent catch in quite some time. He’s a downtrodden character, off the booze for a few years and is almost like an outcast in the local village. On a particular day, Syraceuse pulls up his nets and discovers a female body in his nets and subsequently resuscitates her. She refuses hospital treatment and wishes to remain hidden. So she ends up in Syraceuse’s mothers house which is well removed from civilisation.
From there Syraceuses goes about his business collecting his daughter, who is suffering from kidney failure, from his ex partners house. During the treatment, she asks to be told a story, to which he obliges. He retells his tale and his mesmerised daughter (played wonderfully by Alison Barry) informs him that its a selkie that he caught in his nets. A rare, fantastical creature that comes from the sea and can live on land for 7 years. Surrounded in folklore and tales of seal coats and a husband coming from the sea to find her, Syraceuse starts to bond and make a connection with this folklore legend. He starts bringing her out on fishing trips as a good luck charm,after she sings onboard his trawler and he lands an gigantic catch of fish. All is well, and they both make a physical connection and love story of man and the woman from the sea kicks in. Its around this point that the selkie husband comes looking for his wife and she does her best to avoid him. As for the remaining part of the story, well it’d be spoiler territory to go mention it here.
Neil Jordan has written an incredibly touching movie and while it might seem full of folklore and fantasy it is a completely believable set of events as it draws you in from the very opening minutes. This is a beautifully shot movie with stunning vistas of the South West of Ireland, combined with ship wrecks and light houses. It’s possibly one of the more realistic representations of an Irish fishing village and Ireland in some time. Gone are the cheesy diddle dee i scenes and instead this really reflects what Castletownbere and its surrounding coastline is all about. I’d certainly be influenced to take a trip down there from watching the movie
The cast here are genuinely believable. After all Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda did meet on set, and the chemistry they have on screen is quite brilliant. It’s obviously a smaller movie for Farrell, but he really shines throughout the whole thing in what is really quite a physical role. He’s dragging nets, lobster pots and boats around the place all quite convincingly as a fisherman. After spending 2 weekson board a trawler in preparation for this role, he looks like quite a natural. Alicja Bachleda is also superb here. Her innocence and gentle way in this movie, is incredibly watchable And quite alot of the time she appears wearing very little in what, at times seems like a mini wet t-shirt contest. Special mention as well must go to Alison Barry, who plays Farrell's daughter. She must have really enjoyed her time on set her, because she is like a beaming shine of light on screen. Her quick, sarcastic remarks really out do Farrell on screen.
When I originally saw the trailer, I looked it at a couple of times in quick succession. Firstly I thought hearing Colin Farrell attempting a West Cork accent was a bit dodgy. Upon further trailer viewings I realised that for the best part, any Colin Farrell movie has him doing either an American accent, or his native Dublin accent. Now once or twice, his accent drifts slightly, but for the best part I think he done a decent job of nailing the West Cork accent, with plenty of rolling R’s and dialect tones!
The ending though, one part in particular upon watching, left me feeling a little bit pissed off. But it was only on the way home that It hit me. Ondine is a movie that quickly sucks you in and asks for audience involvement from the emotional level. Without giving the ending away, I never saw it coming as I was completely engrossed in the story. You get a quick, short punch of reality and its then you realise how involved as an audience you were with the movie. Initially I found it frustrating but afterwards, it hit me and its certainly a little bit of genius on Jordan's part. And testament to great film making and a complete and utter dose of pure and utter escapism. Ondine is an incredibly sweet and moving picture which is beautifully shot. Its far removed from big budget blockbusters, but it is essential viewing and provides a much needed escape from the madness of day to day life! This is one, you just MUST go to see!
![one-star_thumb[4]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YwXAl8EpM205csmzwoCgdQ-X_8OsKLI3Vc3kFjDdK15wau1YHfCjxp2Epe1XfUm1XVA7nL2srlheliGdBCZbTJ3p5rNjQ9V18_ehSVXIEoJEK7ggQ4BHFYLZdH8czEAnnnNBKpaPphDf/?imgmax=800 "one-star_thumb[4]")
A dedicated Ondine special featuring interviews from Colin Farrell, Neil Jordan and Alicija Bachleda will feature on The Movie Bit on Sunday, February 28th on Corks RedFM 104-106 or www.redfm.ie
Syraceuse, or Circus as he’s better known around the town is a fisherman who hasn’t had a decent catch in quite some time. He’s a downtrodden character, off the booze for a few years and is almost like an outcast in the local village. On a particular day, Syraceuse pulls up his nets and discovers a female body in his nets and subsequently resuscitates her. She refuses hospital treatment and wishes to remain hidden. So she ends up in Syraceuse’s mothers house which is well removed from civilisation.
From there Syraceuses goes about his business collecting his daughter, who is suffering from kidney failure, from his ex partners house. During the treatment, she asks to be told a story, to which he obliges. He retells his tale and his mesmerised daughter (played wonderfully by Alison Barry) informs him that its a selkie that he caught in his nets. A rare, fantastical creature that comes from the sea and can live on land for 7 years. Surrounded in folklore and tales of seal coats and a husband coming from the sea to find her, Syraceuse starts to bond and make a connection with this folklore legend. He starts bringing her out on fishing trips as a good luck charm,after she sings onboard his trawler and he lands an gigantic catch of fish. All is well, and they both make a physical connection and love story of man and the woman from the sea kicks in. Its around this point that the selkie husband comes looking for his wife and she does her best to avoid him. As for the remaining part of the story, well it’d be spoiler territory to go mention it here.
Neil Jordan has written an incredibly touching movie and while it might seem full of folklore and fantasy it is a completely believable set of events as it draws you in from the very opening minutes. This is a beautifully shot movie with stunning vistas of the South West of Ireland, combined with ship wrecks and light houses. It’s possibly one of the more realistic representations of an Irish fishing village and Ireland in some time. Gone are the cheesy diddle dee i scenes and instead this really reflects what Castletownbere and its surrounding coastline is all about. I’d certainly be influenced to take a trip down there from watching the movie
The cast here are genuinely believable. After all Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda did meet on set, and the chemistry they have on screen is quite brilliant. It’s obviously a smaller movie for Farrell, but he really shines throughout the whole thing in what is really quite a physical role. He’s dragging nets, lobster pots and boats around the place all quite convincingly as a fisherman. After spending 2 weekson board a trawler in preparation for this role, he looks like quite a natural. Alicja Bachleda is also superb here. Her innocence and gentle way in this movie, is incredibly watchable And quite alot of the time she appears wearing very little in what, at times seems like a mini wet t-shirt contest. Special mention as well must go to Alison Barry, who plays Farrell's daughter. She must have really enjoyed her time on set her, because she is like a beaming shine of light on screen. Her quick, sarcastic remarks really out do Farrell on screen.
When I originally saw the trailer, I looked it at a couple of times in quick succession. Firstly I thought hearing Colin Farrell attempting a West Cork accent was a bit dodgy. Upon further trailer viewings I realised that for the best part, any Colin Farrell movie has him doing either an American accent, or his native Dublin accent. Now once or twice, his accent drifts slightly, but for the best part I think he done a decent job of nailing the West Cork accent, with plenty of rolling R’s and dialect tones!
The ending though, one part in particular upon watching, left me feeling a little bit pissed off. But it was only on the way home that It hit me. Ondine is a movie that quickly sucks you in and asks for audience involvement from the emotional level. Without giving the ending away, I never saw it coming as I was completely engrossed in the story. You get a quick, short punch of reality and its then you realise how involved as an audience you were with the movie. Initially I found it frustrating but afterwards, it hit me and its certainly a little bit of genius on Jordan's part. And testament to great film making and a complete and utter dose of pure and utter escapism. Ondine is an incredibly sweet and moving picture which is beautifully shot. Its far removed from big budget blockbusters, but it is essential viewing and provides a much needed escape from the madness of day to day life! This is one, you just MUST go to see!
![one-star_thumb[4]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmLJ0MUbVh9OkWX19KsaTBhL_oLFE2DUnpIrpfZ9sidcJwvmb_3dKedfwEYhA0t2-HOOPXQpaNl4RKlV2mEm6Xyhw-S1qqIE2h0CD44EPeAhhdfHaZEfKHyRwmpWvXUN-xuCkIy358cA/s1600-h/one-star_thumb%5B4%5D%5B4%5D.jpg "one-star_thumb[4]"){kind=small}
A dedicated Ondine special featuring interviews from Colin Farrell, Neil Jordan and Alicija Bachleda will feature on The Movie Bit on Sunday, February 28th on Corks RedFM 104-106 or www.redfm.ie
