Undine (2020 film)

Last updated

Undine
Undine (2020 film).jpg
Film poster
Directed by Christian Petzold
Written byChristian Petzold
Produced by
  • Florian Koerner von Gustorf
  • Michael Weber
Starring
CinematographyHans Fromm
Edited by Bettina Böhler
Release dates
  • 23 February 2020 (2020-02-23)(Berlin)
  • 11 June 2020 (2020-06-11)(Germany)
Running time
90 minutes [1]
Countries
  • Germany
  • France
LanguageGerman
Box office$1.1 million [2] [3]

Undine is a 2020 German-French romantic fantasy drama film directed by Christian Petzold. It had its world premiere on 23 February 2020 at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, [4] [5] where it was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the competition section. [4] [5] Paula Beer won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. [6] It was released in theaters starting in Germany on 11 June 2020. [2]

Contents

Plot

Undine Wibeau, a historian who lectures on the urban development of Berlin, is broken up with by a married man with whom she is having an affair, Johannes. She tells him that if he leaves her she will have to kill him, a reference to the myth of undine, and asks him to wait at a café for her while she delivers a lecture. After the lecture, she returns to the café to find he has left. While looking for him, a man who attended her lecture, Christoph, introduces himself to her, telling her that he is an industrial diver and asking her to have a coffee. Christoph accidentally breaks the aquarium in the café and the two are ejected. The two begin a passionate relationship.

Christoph is fixing a turbine in the Lingese when he sees a giant Wels catfish that he and his colleagues affectionally refer to as Big Gunther. Later, he and Undine meet up and he takes her diving. Undine floats away and almost drowns, but Christoph is able to drag her to shore and revive her. Before she returns to Berlin, he gives her a small statue of a diver. He visits her at her apartment in Berlin, and while the two are out walking they pass Johannes and his partner Nora, with Undine and Johannes sharing a knowing look at one another.

After Christoph leaves, Johannes asks to meet with Undine, telling her he has made a mistake and should not have ended their relationship, but she rejects him. In the evening, Undine receives a call from Christoph asking about Johannes. He asks her if she was in love with him, but does not believe her when she denies it and hangs up. Undine leaves him a voicemail, but after receiving no response by the morning decides to visit him. Arriving at the Lingese, she discovers that an accident left Christoph trapped underwater without air for 12 minutes and he has been hospitalized in a braindead state. She tells Christoph's colleague, Monika, about the phone call, but Monika tells her that Christoph's accident happened the previous afternoon and accuses her of lying.

Undine visits Johannes at his home, where he is swimming with Nora. After Nora heads inside, Undine enters the pool with Johannes and drowns him, before submerging herself in a body of water. At the same moment, Christoph wakes up yelling her name. Christoph travels to Berlin to look for Undine, but visiting her apartment he finds a couple he does not recognize, who tell him that the apartments are for short-term leases and Undine must have left already. He visits her work, where one of her co-workers tells him that Undine was a freelancer and she has not seen her in months.

Two years later, Christoph is now living with Monika, who is pregnant. He is asked to work on the turbines in the Lingese again, and while diving encounters Undine who is swimming in the river. When he emerges he inspects the video feed but finds nothing. That night, he returns to the Lingese and submerges himself despite Monika's cries. He sees Undine once again. As Monika sits alone by the water, Christoph returns and embraces her, holding the statue of the diver.

Cast

Reception

Undine grossed $78,689 in North America [7] and $932,147 worldwide. [2] The film holds an 89% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 139 reviews, with an average of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Undine draws on folklore for a dark fantasy whose murky storytelling is often offset by the enchanting romance at its core." [1] On Metacritic, it holds a rating of 75 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Masculin Féminin</i> 1966 French film by Jean-Luc Godard

Masculin Féminin is a 1966 French New Wave film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. An international co-production between France and Sweden, the film stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Chantal Goya, Marlène Jobert, Catherine-Isabelle Duport, and Michel Debord.

<i>À Nos Amours</i> 1983 French film

À Nos Amours is a 1983 French drama film directed by Maurice Pialat and written by Pialat and Arlette Langmann. Starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Pialat and Evelyne Ker, the story follows a 15-year-old girl, Suzanne (Bonnaire), as she experiences her sexual awakening and becomes promiscuous, but is unable to feel love. À Nos Amours won the César Award for Best Film in 1984.

<i>Street Scene</i> (film) 1931 American pre-Code drama film by King Vidor

Street Scene is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Street Scene takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon. Except for one scene which takes place inside a taxi, Vidor shot the entire film on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts.

<i>Nightwood</i> 1936 novel by Djuna Barnes

Nightwood is a 1936 novel by American author Djuna Barnes that was first published by publishing house Faber and Faber. It is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered lesbian literature.

<i>The Hi-Lo Country</i> 1998 film by Stephen Frears

The Hi-Lo Country is a 1998 American-Western film directed by Stephen Frears, starring Billy Crudup, Penélope Cruz, Woody Harrelson, Cole Hauser, Sam Elliott, Patricia Arquette, Enrique Castillo, and Katy Jurado. It is set in post-World War II New Mexico and is based on the Western novel by Max Evans.

<i>If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle</i> 2010 film

If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle is a 2010 Romanian drama film directed by Florin Șerban.

<i>The Hunter</i> (2010 film) 2010 film

The Hunter is a 2010 Iranian drama film directed by and starring Rafi Pitts. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Cynara</i> (film) 1932 film

Cynara is an American pre-Code 1932 romantic drama film about a British lawyer who pays a heavy price for an affair. It stars Ronald Colman, Kay Francis, and Phyllis Barry. It is based on the 1928 novel An Imperfect Lover by Robert Gore-Browne. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career. A text panel at the beginning of the film explains the title: “Inspired by Ernest Dowson's immortal lines—‘I have been faithful to thee, Cynara, in my fashion.” The poem in question, Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae, was first published in 1894.

Teenagers is a 1961 Egyptian drama film directed by Ahmed Diaeddin. The film was selected as the Egyptian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 33rd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a final nominee.

<i>A Royal Affair</i> 2012 film

A Royal Affair is a 2012 drama film directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard. The story is set in the 18th century, at the court of the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark, and focuses on the romance between his wife, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, and the royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee.

<i>White Deer Plain</i> (film) 2011 film

White Deer Plain is a 2011 Chinese drama film directed by Wang Quan'an and based on the novel of the same name by Chen Zhongshi. The film competed in competition for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, where Lutz Reitemeier was awarded a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Photography).

<i>The Free Will</i> 2006 German film

The Free Will is a 2006 German drama film directed by Matthias Glasner. It premiered in competition at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006 and was awarded two prizes: Jürgen Vogel received a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution and director Matthias Glasner received the Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas. The film was also shown at various film festivals throughout 2006 and 2007, and Jürgen Vogel received Best Actor awards at Chicago International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival.

<i>Black Coal, Thin Ice</i> 2014 Chinese film

Black Coal, Thin Ice is a 2014 Chinese thriller film written and directed by Diao Yinan, and produced by Vivian Qu. The film won the Golden Bear award at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Victoria</i> (2015 film) 2015 film by Sebastian Schipper

Victoria is a 2015 German crime thriller film directed by Sebastian Schipper. The film stars Laia Costa and Frederick Lau. It is one of the few feature films shot in a single continuous take.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Beer</span> German actress

Paula Beer is a German actress. She first became known as a teenager for her main role in Chris Kraus' 2010 film Poll. Her breakthrough was in 2016, when she starred in François Ozon's Frantz (2016), for which she won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young performer at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival for her performance as Undine Wibeau in Christian Petzold's Undine.

<i>System Crasher</i> 2019 German film

System Crasher is a 2019 German drama film directed by Nora Fingscheidt.

<i>First Cow</i> 2019 American drama film by Kelly Reichardt

First Cow is a 2019 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt, from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's 2004 novel The Half-Life. It stars John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Ewen Bremner, Scott Shepherd, Gary Farmer, Stephen Malkmus, Alia Shawkat, and Lily Gladstone. It also features René Auberjonois in one of his final film roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70th Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian. The festival opened with the opening gala presented by actor Samuel Finzi followed by the world premiere of the film My Salinger Year which was selected for the Berlinale Special section. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Iranian film There Is No Evil, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof.

<i>Bad Tales</i> 2020 film

Bad Tales is a 2020 Italian-Swiss drama film written and directed by Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where the D'Innocenzo brothers were awarded with the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.

<i>Im Your Man</i> (2021 film) 2021 drama film by Maria Schrader

I'm Your Man is a 2021 German science fiction romance film written and directed by Maria Schrader and starring Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens and Sandra Hüller. It premiered at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in March 2021. It was selected as the German entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

References

  1. 1 2 "Undine (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Undine (2020)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Undine (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Nash Information Services. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 "The 70th Berlinale Competition and Further Films to Complete the Berlinale Special". Berlinale. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 Dams, Tim (29 January 2020). "Berlin Competition Lineup Revealed: Sally Potter, Kelly Reichardt, Eliza Hittman, Abel Ferrara". Variety . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Meza, Ed (29 February 2020). "Berlin Film Festival 2020: There Is No Evil Wins Golden Bear". Variety. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Undine (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb . Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Undine Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive . Retrieved 14 January 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.