Undine

In my opinion its a beautiful movie, well written scenario, great scenes across the film, and good acting.

Sold as an urban mythological romance and a paean to the city of Berlin, German writer-director, Christian Petzold's new film begins with Paula Beer's mysterious and lonely Undine, an architectural historian, mid-rendezvous with her lover who's dumping her for another woman. Almost immediately after, there's a rather Germanic meet-cute which brings Franz Rogowski's shy and reserved industrial diver, Christoph, into the picture and the two begin a romantic courtship over the rest of the film. Since it was never explained what an Undine is, (for the benefit of those who like me has to google it: according to European mythology, it's a water nymph that becomes human after finding love but have to return to water if her partner becomes unfaithful) I was left rather bewildered during the film which follows closely the above mythology. Without that background knowledge, the story feels rather odd and baffling. In fact, even on reflection with the understanding what she's meant to be, there are parts of the film that still don't make total sense. Also unclear, or at least something that sits rather uneasily with me, is the juxtaposition of this mythical creature with the re-generation of the city of Berlin between WWII and its reunification that the film spends quite a bit of time on. So despite fine performances by the central leads and passionate and competent handling of the material by Petzold, I remain curious but tepid about the whole thing and I fear that a more cynical viewer such as I will not be entirely receptive to the romantic notions, both for the lovers and the city, that the film is attempting to convey. Or in the words of a parting lover: it's not you, it's me.

The piano music and the end scene makes all the difference with this film. Mid way through I felt it was a little bland and I wasn't sure of the plot direction but I thought it was somewhat touching by the very end. The musical score makes a big difference, its subtle but certainly not non-existent. It is most certainly an understated film and it may bore some people, its very much an arty film of course and its hardly gripping viewing but its thoughtful and ok at the end. I don't think I'd have persevered with this, had I not paid to view it. This is an ok film overall, no more really.

Word to the wise: Watch this film with an open mind! I spent the entire movie searching for an answer to oddities and came up empty handed, only to find that the explanation was something that I never in a MILLION years would have imagined. Perhaps that was my ignorance and I should have known that Undine's are water nymphs, but I have a feeling that is not common knowledge. Overall, the acting was quite good and I found the incorporation of Berlin's history to be a nice touch. I would have liked this better without the mythical tone, but can appreciate it all the same.

A nice story with wonderful actors

Beautiful reworking of an old story.

Not sure how this will weather in my library, decent foreign film, but just wanted more. Worth a second watch? Only time will tell.

Beer and Rogowski carry this somewhat slight work by the wonderful German director Christian Petzold. Their onscreen connection as lovers Undine and Christoph, playing off one another so well, so convincing in their love and devotion, has led to two successful films so far, though Undine does not quite match the fire of Transit. The film could've used a bit more of the mythmaking of the Undine legend. The supernatural possibilities of that story could've fleshed out the one we see with more symbolism/imagery to create a greater overall impression on the audience. I'm not sure how much Petzold was trying to make correlations between the changes in Berlin over time and those in human life, how we alter the architecture of our lives with the people we love most like a city's core is replaced by attempts to improve on or leave behind less desirable memories. He falls short at times. Also great here is Maryam Zaree as another love interest, but one grounded purely in reality, and whose love for Christoph is without question. I did quite like the final scene, down to the final image and what I took from it. I may need to see this again soon. 3.3 stars

A reasonably entertaining if somehow a little aimless fantasy/romance where a little more explanation would have gone a long way.

A beautiful film with great characters and acting. Perhaps if I were more knowledgeable about German mythology, or water nymphs in general, I would have been better able to follow. Not much is explained about who Undine is, where she came from, or what becomes of her. Could have been much more of a movie, the director may have made it for an audience to whom Undine as a character is a familiar childhood story that doesn't need explaining.