The trailer for Neil Jordan's new fantasy drama Ondine is now online. Starring Colin Farrell, it's the story of lonely fisherman Syracuse, who one day discovers a woman in his trawl (don't worry: any similarities to Lady in the Water end right there). Syracuse's daughter believes it's a mermaid, but as in all the best fairytales, there's darkness underneath the enchantment.
Mythologically speaking, the Ondine or Undine is a water spirit (or "selkie") able to earn a soul by marrying a mortal man, at the cost of losing her immortality. Their beautiful voices can be heard in the flow of running water, which perhaps explains the trailer's glimpse of Alicja Bachleda-Curus' Ondine singing fish into the fishermen's nets.
Filmed in and around Ireland's Beara Peninsula, the film was a labour of love for writer/director Jordan, and it's fantastically exciting to have the man who brought us The Company of Wolves and The Butcher Boy delivering more off-kilter folklore.
Ondine is released in the UK on March 5, and co-stars Stephen Rea. Well, it wouldn't be a Neil Jordan film without Stephen Rea.