If you have missed the first dispatch, here it is.
Undine (dir. Christian Peltzold)
Undine is a mythical element, rather than a story. The term Undine’s Curse is taken in which a mermaid curses her lover, after being caught having an affair, by making him struggle to breathe and unable to sleep. But the character has appeared as nymphs and mermaids, who do not share a soul with their human mates.
Undine, directed by Christian Petzold, begins with a breakup and then goes into a brief history of Germany, based on its post-WW2 urban structures. Anyone familiar with Petzold and his efforts like Phoenix and Transit would see that this wouldn’t be the first time that he uses a historical backdrop to push urgency between their screen couples. The latter used the recent European migrant crisis to ensure that the twists in its narrative are granted plausibility, while the former did the same by applying the horrors of Nazi Germany to greater effect. The eponymous heroine in Undine, played brilliantly by Paula Beers, makes many observations as a historian about the different buildings in Berlin and how they emerged. This may seem that this would parallel with her breakup from another person seem awkward, and thankfully that aspect doesn’t overwhelm the experience. However, it does evoke the mythical lore of the Undine, as she falls for a diver named Christoph, and tries to move on from her previous relationship that was marred from manipulation. Christoph is played by Franz Gowozski, who was in Transit alongside Beer, and the chemistry here is far more direct and upfront compared to the last effort.
Water imagery - when we see his diving expeditions - recurs so often in Undine, that it also brings to light the Curse. Tension arises whenever these expeditions risk any sense of death, and it could happen to either Christoph or Undine. Only one of them survives, but when doesn’t, it’s unlikely they will return ever. That’s part of the film’s modernist interpretation of Ondine’s curse and taking it to its logical conclusion. I’m convinced that Pelzold can quip himself with storytelling tools that play with his expectations, but I’m far from it when the form being utilized had some historical mystique.