91 mins |
Rated
M (Violence & sex scenes)
Directed by Christian Petzold
Starring Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Anne Ratte-Polle, Maryam Zaree, Jacob Matschenz, Gloria Endres de Oliveira
Playing as part of IN THE SHADE Film Festival Jan 20 - Feb 01.
Germany • In German with English subtitles
German auteur Christian Petzold is a master in the art of tightening an invisible grip on his characters; they can appear as though becalmed, between worlds, stranded and hovering in a transitory state due to circumstance, fate or personality – and not always aware of the fact. UNDINE is no exception, and his latest heroine is perhaps his most slippery and elusive yet. But then, her name belongs to a mythical creature, a female water nymph whose lack of a soul, not to mention her aquatic environment, can complicate interaction with humans.
Writer-director Christian Petzold reunites with Transit co-stars Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski for this contemporary take on a European fairy tale.
Undine (Beer) is a city historian in Berlin, giving guided tours for the Senate Administration for Urban Development. But an old myth lurks behind the facade of her seemingly modern life: if the man Undine loves betrays her, she has to kill him and return to the water she once came from. So when her lover Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) leaves her for another woman, Undine thinks she has no choice — until, in the moment of betrayal, she meets a man named Christoph (Rogowski) and unexpectedly falls for him. Undine doesn’t want to lose this new love, but when Christoph starts to feel that Undine is running away from something, she has to face her curse once and for all. - TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
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Playing as part of IN THE SHADE Film Festival Jan 20 - Feb 01.
Germany • In German with English subtitles
German auteur Christian Petzold is a master in the art of tightening an invisible grip on his characters; they can appear as though becalmed, between worlds, stranded and hovering in a transitory state due to circumstance, fate or personality – and not always aware of the fact. UNDINE is no exception, and his latest heroine is perhaps his most slippery and elusive yet. But then, her name belongs to a mythical creature, a female water nymph whose lack of a soul, not to mention her aquatic environment, can complicate interaction with humans.
Writer-director Christian Petzold reunites with Transit co-stars Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski for this contemporary take on a European fairy tale.
Undine (Beer) is a city historian in Berlin, giving guided tours for the Senate Administration for Urban Development. But an old myth lurks behind the facade of her seemingly modern life: if the man Undine loves betrays her, she has to kill him and return to the water she once came from. So when her lover Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) leaves her for another woman, Undine thinks she has no choice — until, in the moment of betrayal, she meets a man named Christoph (Rogowski) and unexpectedly falls for him. Undine doesn’t want to lose this new love, but when Christoph starts to feel that Undine is running away from something, she has to face her curse once and for all. - TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL