Written and directed by Christian Petzold
Starring Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, Jacob Matschenz
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes
Available in theaters and digitally June 4

by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

Undine is a slow, calm, dream-like film, a matryoshka doll that’s a drama, a romance, and lastly, a subtle modern-day take on an ancient myth. Paula Beer stars as Undine Wibeau, a lonely historian, bored by her work. She goes to a museum, obtains a blazer, skirt, and white dress shirt from a locker, and gives presentations to tourists on the urban development in Berlin. Undine joins her boyfriend, Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) for coffee before work. She misinterprets the intent of the coffee date; Johannes is there to break up with her. Heartbroken, she goes looking for him after her lecture, only to run into the affable Christoph (Franz Rogowski), an industrial diver, whose clumsiness leads to a broken restaurant aquarium. They instantly fall in love.

Undine has many things going for it, most importantly lead actress Paula Beer, who can project an every-girl niceness as well an aura of mystery. She’s able to change the character’s trajectory suddenly and unexpectedly. The film is strongest with scenes between Christoph and Undine. Christoph literally stumbles into Undine’s life inside the restaurant, and they both fall to the ground as the water from the aquarium splashes over them like a tide. There’s no denying that Undine is real. She’s not a figment of Christoph’s imagination, although a cheaper script might have made it so. Christoph loves her so much that he begs to listen to one of her dry lectures. Franz Rogowski, who previously worked with Undine’s writer/director Christian Petzold on Transit with Paula Beer, is always smitten with Undine.

In spite of these tender moments, and Paula Beer’s versatile performance, I was not engaged or curious about where Undine was going. The pacing is slow, the soundtrack is sparse. There are no big moments that warrant triumphant music, so the soundtrack is the occasional use of piano. There are certain details, particularly in the camerawork, that are worth marvelling at. The way that bubbles in water rise to the surface, each with a unique shape, looking more like blown glass than pockets of air. A huge catfish that Christoph and the other divers refer to as “Gunther” looks mammoth and prehistoric. But Petzold stays with certain scenes for far too long. I would rather see a long take of Undine and Christoph walking and talking than listen to one of Undine’s lectures, which is at one point presented in its entirety, although it has no relevance to the rest of the film.

I enjoyed Undine more as a romance and less-so as an interpretation of undine (or ondine, like the title of this American film),  a “water nymph.” It’s not a particularly interesting myth to turn into a film, or a romance for that matter. It’s hard to determine where the idea for the film started; did this start as a romance that could incorporate the myth, or the myth that could incorporate the romance? If we have these two actors who have such chemistry, we don’t need this myth subplot. If Undine is “undine” of the myth, then she feels less real, and that makes for a less engaging film, because then the human perspective feels detached. A stronger film could have kept the same three actors and disregarded the myth altogether. Undine is well-acted and beautifully shot but it makes for a dull watch.