Cast: Colin Farrell, Alison Barry, Alicja Bachleda

Director: Neil Jordan

Screenwriter: Neil Jordan

Writer/director Neil Jordan has had, so far, as broad and diverse a career as a filmmaker as one could possibly conceive. From multi-million dollar Hollywood movies replete with the inherent megastars (Interview With The Vampire), to smaller scale ‘home-grown’ dramas (Breakfast On Pluto), from supernatural and horror tales (The Company Of Wolves) to crime flick character studies (The Good Thief), he has touched on many a genre and his latest film, Ondine draws on aspects from all over.

Part fairytale fantasy, part thriller and part family drama, Ondine has star wattage too in the shape of Hollywood hearthrob Colin Farrell who plays Syracuse, a quiet and reticent Irish fisherman who, when out on the seas one morning, finds a half naked and half dead, woman, Ondine (Bachleda) caught in his net. After resuscitating the young woman he takes her in and cares for her but finds that answers to her identity – where she came from and how she ended up in the water – are few and far between. Her secretive origins cause commotion aplenty in the small seaside fishing town; there are those that believe her to be a mermaid, Syracuse’s daughter Annie (Alison Barry) believes her to be a selkie, a water creature that assumes human form on dry land, and Syracuse, while unconvinced by either theory, proceeds to fall in love with the mysterious woman. As their relationship blossoms though, the revelation as to her true identity threatens to change both Syracuse’s life, and that of those close to him, forever.

Jordan’s film unfolds slowly with an unhurried almost old fashioned pace, allowing the viewer to spend time with its characters and get to know them, and there are some winning performances on show. Farrell excels as Syracuse, as does Barry as his wordsmith daughter, and newcomer Bachleda is a revelation as the mysterious Ondine. There are some wonderful scenes too between Farrell and the local priest (Jordan regular Stephen Rea) as Syracuse adopts confession to be his stand-in AA meetings, of which there are none in the town. Being a Neil Jordan film, it is beautifully shot as well, the rolling hills and morning mist of the Irish coast captured by a director with genuine affection and passion for his homeland.

Amidst the mythical elements though, there are reminders of the harsher realities of the real world in the alcoholism that plagues Syracuse’s life and that of his ex-wife and her new lover, and the strains of a broken family on a child. The film takes a slight misstep with a change of direction in the third act as Jordan steers it into waters more in keeping with a thriller than with the mythical and mystery it has sheltered in up to this point, but the warmth of the performances and the strength of the emotion, and the writing, ensure that this is but a momentary buffet in the sails of a film that shows that with belief and hope the magical can become a reality.

By Alasdair Morton

Ondine is released on the 12^th March by Paramount.