Female Film Critics 24/375
A fairy tale gets a modern retelling in Undine, a symbol-laden love story from German director Christian Petzold (Phoenix; Transit). The 19th century Undine (by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque) was a water nymph who marries a human to get a soul; there are strings attached, however. It’s the same territory as Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, or any other dark fable prior to being Disneyfied.
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Transit, an arthouse release by German auteur Christian Petzold, is based on the 1942 novel by Anna Seghers of the same name, but this adaptation throws it into historical limbo. It creates an eerie cautionary tale, by setting it without further explanation in the here and now, although in truth it exists out of time.
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Writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “em>Never Look Away is an ambitious film, succeeding in some ways, failing in others. At its essence, it questions the theoretical nature of art, both the stimulus and achievement of the painter and the contribution to the society it serves. However, its three hours plus bogs down in melodrama, weak acting and muddled ideas.
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