Undine

It will probably not surprise you, Dear Reader, that during this pandemic, one of the things I yearned for most was movie theaters. So, I thought today I would recommend a film correctly playing in one, yes, a film you can head down to your local art house cinema and buy a ticket for (provided they are showing it).  I’m talking about the newest film from German director Christian Perzold (Transit, Phoenix), Undine. 

The film begins with our protagonist, the titular Undine (Paula Beer) in shock as her boyfriend Johannes (Jacob Matchenz) breaks up with her in a café across from her work.  She begs Johannes not to do this, and casually tells him, if he breaks up with her, she’ll have to kill him. Johannes tells her not to be ridiculous, as he gets a call from “the other woman.” Undine needs to go to work, where she gives tours at an architectural museum about the history of Berlin, and asks Johannes to wait for her until she’s done.  Johannes doesn’t wait, but just as soon as Johannes exits her life, Christoph (Fran’s Rogouish) enters it.  

The film proceeds to follow Undine and Christoph in the honeymoon days of their relationship, but underneath the sweetness of their love, there’s an unnamed threat lurking beneath the surface. 

The threat might feel more defined to people familiar to the mythical figure of Undine.  An undine is a water spirit, originally a water elemental described in the 16th c. writings of Paraclesus, that transformed into more of a nymph like creature.  The most influential use of Undine may be Friedrich de la Motte Fouque‘s novella Undine, which focuses the idea of Undine being physically immortal but lacking a mortal soul unless she is able to marry a human man.  If this feels familiar, it is because this story greatly influenced Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid which changes the protagonist from a nymph to a mermaid but keeps the idea of tying an immortal soul to a romantic relationship.  He also added the most critical element to the mermaid mythology – murder! 

Seriously, for as much as mermaids are associated with a certain type of nonthreatening femininity, a pastel girliness, mermaid stories are rife with longing, tragedy, and death.  Personally, I’ve never understood the appeal of mermaids – they’re part fish for god’s sake, the ocean is GROSS. But I digress. 

When Undine tells Johannes she’ll have to murder him and he brushes her off, it’s unclear how serious we should take her at this moment.  Is she prone to dramatic statements like this which is why Johannes dismisses it so easily, has she told him this before, is she an actual factual water nymph who just works as a tour guide, is she crazy? A lot of things are unclear about Undine, she can be opaque as the muddy waters of the Rhine which Christoph delves into during his job as an underwater welder. We understand Christoph as he swims through the high of a new romance, but seeing Undine coming off of a harsh brake-up, she is harder to relate to.  Opaque is actually a good word to describe this film. 

Symbolism.

You know that stereotype of foreign artsy dramas with subtitles, where people dance around issues and say vague things and not a lot happens for 80% of the film – well, that’s Christian Perzold in many ways, and I trust that you know yourself, dear reader, well enough to know if you jive with that sort of film.  For example, a lot of time is given to Undine’s job as the camera hovers over scale models of Berlin and listens as Undine delivers her lectures on castles that were built, destroyed, and rebuilt, and the film is daring you to find the connection between this and the main plot. 

If I may offer my humble interpretation – I think this is a film about impermanence.  In one scene, Christoph returns to Undine’s apartment only to find she’s moved out. The new couple living there tell Christoph that this is only temporary housing.  Before he leaves, he points to a red wine stain on the wall that he caused while visiting, telling the couple that was his doing.  It’s important for him to point out the mark he and Undine made on this place even though they’ve left the space.  Old relationships, overthrown governments, destroyed castles – they haunt the present like ghosts or ruins submerged under the water, out of sight but still present.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story since this is a relatively new film, and if anything I’ve said here piques your interest I recommend you check this film out.