Christian Petzold is a big name in German cinema, but his new film "Undine" is doing not so well in the IMDB rating. Having seen the film I wondered why, because I found it fascinating. There are a couple of explanations.
The first one is that the regular admirers of Christian Petzold were disappointed. Was he not one of the main directors of the "Berliner Schule" and was he not supposed to make socially critical movies in stead of a mix of romance ad fantasy? Petzold himself put the "Berliner Schule" in perspective in a recent interview and said that it were just a couple of directors who happened to attend the same school at the same time. Of course they were influended by there teachers, but that was all. They were and remained different type of directors.
The second explanation is that "Undine" is very hard to follow without prior knowledge of the legend on which "Undine" is loosely based. This is true. See the following information as necessary foreknowledge and not as a spoiler. Creatures who are half fish / half woman can be divided into two categories. The good ones are called Mermaids (the German fresh water synonym is Undine) and they come out of the sea to love a man. The bad ones are called Sirens (German fresh water synonym Lorelei) and they are luring men into the water. Undine is good but in the story of Friedrich de la Motte Fourqué (1811) she is dependent on her male lover for a soul. When this male lover is however unfaithfull he has to pay with his life and Undine returns to the water.
Mermaids often are male fantasies. They are sexually mature but mentally very naive. In "Undine" Petzold portrays a slightly more female friendly version of Undine. This is however not attributable to Paula Beer, the actress who is the female lead in the last Petzold films and is a worthy successor of Nina Hoss. It is attributale to her two lovers. The first lover (Johannes played by Jacob Matschenz) is the wrong one, who sees a relationship as a transaction. The second lover (Christoph played by Franz Rogowski) is the right one, who sees a relationshipas as a journey of discovery. He even postpones sex to a later stage. Because of the logic of the de la Motte Fourqué legend the affair with Christoph is intense but nevertheless tragic.
Even knowing the de la Motte Fourqué legend makes the film not very easily comprehensible. What is for example the relationship between the death of Johannes and the resurection of Christoph? After the lights go on there is some time needed to "digest" "Undine". For some this is annoying, for me it is the confirmation of quality.
The first one is that the regular admirers of Christian Petzold were disappointed. Was he not one of the main directors of the "Berliner Schule" and was he not supposed to make socially critical movies in stead of a mix of romance ad fantasy? Petzold himself put the "Berliner Schule" in perspective in a recent interview and said that it were just a couple of directors who happened to attend the same school at the same time. Of course they were influended by there teachers, but that was all. They were and remained different type of directors.
The second explanation is that "Undine" is very hard to follow without prior knowledge of the legend on which "Undine" is loosely based. This is true. See the following information as necessary foreknowledge and not as a spoiler. Creatures who are half fish / half woman can be divided into two categories. The good ones are called Mermaids (the German fresh water synonym is Undine) and they come out of the sea to love a man. The bad ones are called Sirens (German fresh water synonym Lorelei) and they are luring men into the water. Undine is good but in the story of Friedrich de la Motte Fourqué (1811) she is dependent on her male lover for a soul. When this male lover is however unfaithfull he has to pay with his life and Undine returns to the water.
Mermaids often are male fantasies. They are sexually mature but mentally very naive. In "Undine" Petzold portrays a slightly more female friendly version of Undine. This is however not attributable to Paula Beer, the actress who is the female lead in the last Petzold films and is a worthy successor of Nina Hoss. It is attributale to her two lovers. The first lover (Johannes played by Jacob Matschenz) is the wrong one, who sees a relationship as a transaction. The second lover (Christoph played by Franz Rogowski) is the right one, who sees a relationshipas as a journey of discovery. He even postpones sex to a later stage. Because of the logic of the de la Motte Fourqué legend the affair with Christoph is intense but nevertheless tragic.
Even knowing the de la Motte Fourqué legend makes the film not very easily comprehensible. What is for example the relationship between the death of Johannes and the resurection of Christoph? After the lights go on there is some time needed to "digest" "Undine". For some this is annoying, for me it is the confirmation of quality.