Ondine Review
As a fisherman pulls in his nets, he can tell there’s not much of a catch again today—until he sees the body of a woman curled up in the net. She must be drowned, but when he tries to resuscitate her she gasps air and comes to life. How can it be?
There is a sense of mystery and wonder throughout Ondine. The woman, who says her name is Ondine, wants no one to see her. Syracuse, the fisherman, takes her to the secluded home where his mother lived. When he takes her out in the boat while he fishes she begins to sing, and suddenly Syracuse’s luck changes—his lobster pots are full, his nets have loads of fish. When Syracuse tells his daughter about the woman, she concludes the woman must be a selkie—a legendary creature that can change from a seal into a woman. So will this be a fairy tale or is there a harsher reality?
The tagline for the film on its posters is “The truth is not what you know. It’s what you believe.” The tension between knowing something and believing is a central part of the concept of faith. In many ways faith is taking a step beyond what we know. In Ondine it is taking that step that allows the characters to be transformed.
Syracuse is already well on his way to transformation. He’s been sober for some time. His ex-wife and her boyfriend continue their alcoholism, relying on Syracuse to take care of his daughter when needed. Although he’s been changing his ways, few of the people around him acknowledge it. They still call him by his nickname, Circus (because he’s always been a clown). He corrects them, but with little effect. Still, the transformation is a struggle for him. There is no AA group in town, so he goes to talk to the priest in the confessional as if it were a meeting. When Ondine comes along, it is a bit of light in his life, but can he trust it. At one time he confesses, “I’m afraid I’m beginning to hope.”
His daughter is probably the most adult character in the film. (That often seems to be the case.) She is in need of a kidney, so her health is somewhat frail. Her transformation is a matter of life and death. She has to deal with very harsh realities. But she also has enough imagination to find hope in the outlandish idea that her father caught a selkie while fishing. If that is possible, perhaps even the possibility of regaining her health is possible.
And then there is Ondine. We know that there is something dark in her past. Before long that past comes looking for her. Is the love she finds in Syracuse and his daughter enough for her to be transformed in spite of whatever she has done? Or will that past bring grief to those who are beginning to love her? When the truth comes out, will the knowledge people have keep them from believing in who she can be?
It is not only the faith of each person that allows them to find transformation in this story, but also the faith of those around them. Everyone in town continues to call Syracuse by his old nickname because they don’t yet believe the transformation. That transformation doesn’t become complete until it is reflected back to him by his daughter and Ondine. So too, Ondine may not even believe her life can be transformed until she sees that transformed vision of her through Syracuse and his daughter.
