Undine

Christian Petzold

Christian Petzold injects a mythological element into a lush melodrama about a pair of star-crossed lovers (Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski) linked by an affinity for water.

DIRECTOR
Christian Petzold
YEAR
2020
COUNTRY
Germany
RUNTIME
90 minutes
LANGUAGE
German with English subtitles

Christian Petzold’s 2020 feature may have seemed to be a departure for the German director, especially to those only acquainted with his triumvirate of masterful films about the romantic and identity crises of refugees at different points in German history: Barbara (NYFF50), Phoenix, and Transit (NYFF56). Yet Petzold has long been toying with established genres, and with Undine he injects a supernatural element into a melodrama of star-crossed lovers—the title character (Paula Beer), a historian and tour guide at the Berlin City Museum specializing in urban development, and industrial diver Christoph (Franz Rogowski, Beer’s co-star in Transit). Linked by a love of the water, Undine and Christoph form an intense bond, which can only do so much to help her overcome the considerable baggage of her former affair. The story of a contemporary relationship guided by age-old cosmic fate, Petzold’s film contains indelible images of lush romanticism while remaining scrupulously enigmatic. An NYFF58 selection. An IFC Films release.

Watch our Q&A from the 58th New York Film Festival below.

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