2020 Directed by Christian Petzold
Undine works as a historian lecturing on Berlin's urban development. When the man she loves leaves her, the ancient myth catches up with her. But falling in love anew, Undine reworks the myth of the mysterious water spirit as a modern fairy-tale in a disenchanted world.
Bettina Böhler Martin Steyer Carsten Richter Kuen-Il Song Hanse Warns Dominik Schleier Andreas Mücke-Niesytka Benjamin Hörbe
Ondina. Un amor para siempre, Η Νύμφη του Νερού, لغو کردن, Undine - Aallotar, Ondine, אונדינה, Undine - Un Amore per Sempre, 水を抱く女, 운디네, Undīne, Ундина, 温蒂妮, 水精靈之戀, 水漾的女人
Epic history and literature Humanity and the world around us death, profound, symbolism, philosophical or vision romance, emotion, relationships, feelings or captivating historical, royalty, sumptuous, lavish or drama propaganda, historical, war, political or historic shakespearean, kings, battle, breathtaking or epic Show All…
went in expecting mermaids and came out knowing a surprising amount about german architecture
paula beer and franz rogowski are so magical together!! i was gonna say i’d watch them read out an instruction manual but paula gave multiple lectures on berlin architecture and i was hanging onto every word so it’s not too far off
casually enchanting in a way that never feels forced, blending a modern love story with a mysterious myth seamlessly by use of visual clues and a gorgeous score. every moment is purposeful and subdued with just the right amount of magic that lingers with me. and this on-screen duo makes my heart ache. i adore this movie
Myth and the city. Petzold's love for fiction, his place and his actors is in peak form. He remains one of contemporary cinema last classicists if by that one means a certain disposition towards his material and how to express it through images. His cinema is constant haunted by old forms, tales, images but it is worth interrogating how they are reconstructed, Very alluring even if the relationship between olf stories and the german landscape he is trying to work on remains a bit more dry. It did made me think a lot about Yella and that's probably my favorite among his movies, so there's that too.
I spent most of Transit being like "I don't know??" then fell in love with it in the final act; here - kind of the exact opposite experience. a movie for the type of person who thinks the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour is the most romantic place in the world (which it is), and obviously Franz Rogowski can [redacted]. on one hand, someone could do a poignant double feature with this and Columbus, and on the other hand, someone could do an insane double feature with this and Serenity.
This film started and ended with a heartbreak, but what separated Undine from the others is its supernatural twist on a modern fairytale story, as it tells the story of a historian, whose love life slowly recuperated after a disastrous breakup, but tragedy and superstition soon followed, ending with a bittersweet tale of two people who truly loved each other, but weren’t meant to be together. The obsession to water was not lost in the character of Undine and this trait manifested throughout the film and propelled the storyline, as she fell in love with a man whose occupation involves diving into deep waters. It also stayed true to its title of a mythical water nymph, whose lover will suffer…
NYFF 2020: film #24
“maybe my heart did skip a beat, but then it started beating again under your hand”
every christian petzold i’ve seen has an otherworldly tension, and this is no exception. but this is a love story before anything else, and it shimmers with beauty and tragedy. i’ve been thinking about transit since the day i saw it and i can feel this already growing on me as well
Christian Petzold’s modern-day twist on the tale of the mythical water nymph, UNDINE uses the history of German architecture as a metaphor for cursed romance, with magical results. An extremely assured - pristine work, that is haunting and quietly moving without being overly sentimental. Two excellent lead performances from Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer. It's a film that will stick with me for a while, it effortlessly creeps under your skin and stays there. It's all mood. Hypnotic score. Lingering images. Even the long architectural history lectures by Paula Beer in this film feel poetic. The landscapes of Berlin creates a strong sense of place.
Superb fairy tales kinda romantic storytelling. Great casting, Paula Beer was just amazing. Shot brilliantly, especially the underwater shots.
I think I need to watch more of Christian Petzold films now.
A story in which Petzold questions the ability of desire to prevail over memory. If what we want so desperately can overwrite our perception of reality should they be incompatible. And for most of our time in Undine it seems that such revisions are successful not just from our singular perspective but reality at large, that a strong enough desire has the power to re-shape our lives definitively. Then, as the cracks start to appear we start to wonder whether anything actually changed or whether we just fooled ourselves into perceiving a lie, a deception made all the more disconcerting when it's not limited just to ourselves but a group hysteria. Does such dissonance originate from a genuine belief in our fancies? Or, just like the myths we cherish, do we knowingly maintain a false history for the simple sake of fantasy?
It is easier for a city to rebuild and move on than it is for the heart to do the same. I am under the spell of Undine though I couldn't really tell you what's under the surface. There's the duality and reconstruction of Berlin and the movement of love from one person to the next only to cause the flutter of a heartbeat when reminded of the one who broke you before. There are giant catfish, industrial gears, discussions of architecture, and observed/remembered divisions in the depths of Undine. But the reason why Christian Petzold's film works so well is because the surface is radiant. The surface of the film is two beautiful people with great chemistry (Transit's Paula…
christian petzold binge-watched h2o plötzlich meerjungfrau and was like ok lemme come up with a story real quick
