10 April 2012
The Irish Tourist Board will be suitably grateful for Neil Jordan's beautifully shot fable about a young fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell) who picks up a half-drowned girl (Alicia Bachleda) in his net.
He begins to think she is a mermaid - or perhaps he just concocts the story for the benefit of his disabled daughter (Alison Barry)? We never quite know. But we do see him harbouring the girl and gradually falling for her.
Jordan, refreshingly, presents rural Ireland without the clichés. Farrell, speaking in an impenetrable accent, is totally believable, throwing off his star persona as if he were glad to be rid of the weight.
Though the ending feels tacked on, there's imagination here as well as style.
Ondine
Cert: 12A
