The film Ondine uses the myth of the Selkie and several key characters fulfill roles from that myth. Ondine is clearly “the selkie” and the mysterious man who appears is her “selkie husband.” This film is also a good fit for Campbell's monomyth theory and serves a psychological function. The hero, Syracuse, is a fisherman who is trying to outlive the nickname Circus from his days as a laughable drunk. Minutes into the film, Syracuse pulls a woman out of the water in his nets, the "Call to Adventure" in the monomyth. Syracuse receives guidance from the village priest, the "Supernatural Helper," visits the women's clothing store ("Crosses the threshold"), faces "tests" to his ability to have good, sober relationships and find love, has a "helper" in his daughter, fights the "final battle" when the mysterious man and his men show up looking for the item from Ondine ("the elixir"). After the climax of the film, Syracuse must return to the world with the full knowledge of who Ondine is ("the flight") and then act upon that knowledge. When he does, the balance is restored and our hero is "home."
The most predominant symbol in the film is the item that Ondine pulls from the water. It is a symbol of transformation and represents transformation on several levels in this film. As a sealskin, it represents the ability of a selkie to transform into a human. As an item from the quotidian world, it represents the event that caused Ondine to transform from her previous life into a woman almost drowning in the sea. It facilitates Ondine's transformation into a woman who fights for her life, Syracuse into a man who finally believes that good things can happen in his life, and it facilitates an event that saves Annie's life.
When the item first appears, we cannot tell what it is, and are left wondering if it could indeed be a sealskin, and whether Ondine is really a selkie. As the film progresses we are shown what the item actually is, just as we are shown more about the characters and how this item has changed all of their lives. It is the elixir in the film and is equivalent to the “selkie’s skin” in the selkie myth. An important motif in the film is the song “All Alright” by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. The lyrics include “I want him to know what I have done I want him to know it’s bad” which mirror Ondine’s feelings about her past. The lyrics end with “You… You are still next to me, alright” which voices the hope of a happy ending for the film.
The film makes allusions to other myths or mythic material as well. As Annie is receiving dialysis early in the film, Syracuse starts a story with “Once upon a time” and she says “and a very good time it was,” referencing the child-like opening of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce’s novel is “a portrait of a mind that has achieved emotional, intellectual, and artistic adulthood” (Calley), and hints that transforming to adulthood will be an important part of Syracuse’s journey in this film. After rescuing Ondine, Syracuse doesn’t want her to go fishing with him, citing an old superstition that women on a boat are bad luck. When he relents and lets her join him onboard, his fishing luck changes. Several times in the film, Annie repeats the phrase “curiouser and curiouser,” a reference to Alice in Wonderland and a fitting phrase for a girl who believes that anything is possible.
The film Ondine demonstrates that love is possible for all of us if we are willing to transform ourselves into people who are ready for it to come into our lives. At the start of the film, Syracuse is alone and two years sober. There isn’t an AA group in the village so he uses the confessional to keep sober and get advice from the priest. Syracuse is divorced from an alcoholic wife, who lives with another man. Syracuse's ex-wife has custody of his precocious 10-year old daughter. The daughter, Annie, is on dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. Even his occupation as a fisherman isn’t very successful. Syracuse’s life is an emotional wreck and he’s pessimistic, never daring to hope that he might find love and happiness. By the end of the film, Syracuse has undergone separation, initiation, and return.
Sigur Ros. “All Alright.” SongMeanings. n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858725492/
