Ondine (2009)
Colin Farrell: Syracuse
Photos
Quotes
-
Fishery Board Man II : There's a girl here Syracuse, in your net.
Syracuse : Is that illegal?
Fishery Board Man II : No, but... it's unusual.
-
Ondine : Can I...
Syracuse : What?
Ondine : Can I clean up this place?
Syracuse : I suppose. How long are you staying?
Ondine : Depends, I guess.
Syracuse : On what?
Ondine : On you.
Syracuse : On me?
[pleased]
Syracuse : It depends on me, you can stay forever.
Ondine : Forever?
[chuckles]
Syracuse : Forever. Happily ever after. Once upon a time. I've been... telling my daughter a story... uh, a fairytale.
[exits]
Annie : [hidden, to herself] What's the story, Da?
-
Annie : So, what's the story?
Syracuse : Oh, she sings.
Annie : Who sings?
Syracuse : The woman in the story I told you about.
Annie : With the fisherman?
Syracuse : Yes. She sings to the fishes and he catches them.
Annie : You sure you're not dreaming, Da?
Syracuse : Dreaming?
Annie : Yeah. You sure this isn't some weird wish-fulfilment thing?
Syracuse : Where did you learn words like that?
Annie : I go to school.
Syracuse : And I didn't?
Annie : No. Let's be honest, you didn't. You move your mouth when you read.
Syracuse : Is that bad?
Annie : No, but it means something. So she sings, does she?
Syracuse : Yep... a song in a language he has never heard.
Annie : That would be Selk.
Syracuse : Selk?
Annie : Kind of seal talk. And do you know why she sings?
Syracuse : Why?
Annie : That's the way they communicate underwater. They don't speak, they sing.
Syracuse : Ah... so the lobster hear her singing.
Annie : What lobster?
Syracuse : What I mean is, under the water they hear her singing?
Annie : The denizens of the deep.
Syracuse : Are you sure?
Annie : She's a seal. She's not human.
Syracuse : She looks human.
Annie : In the story?
Syracuse : Yes, in the story.
Annie : Whose story is this?
Syracuse : It's mine.
Annie : You make it up?
Syracuse : Yeah. For you.
-
Syracuse : My name's Syracuse and I'm an alcoholic.
Priest : And you've been sober for two years, seven months and...
Syracuse : Twenty-one days.
Priest : You're doing very well, Syracuse.
Syracuse : It's about the girl, Father.
Priest : Oh, yes. The one you... met... out fishing.
Syracuse : I drew her up in a net, Father.
Priest : She looked pretty real to me, Circus.
Syracuse : Syracuse.
Priest : Sorry. Syracuse. So, what about her? You've sinned with her, I suppose?
Syracuse : Of course.
Priest : And I don't suppose you want absolution?
Syracuse : No.
Priest : No. So, why are you here, Syracuse?
Syracuse : You know the story about the king who had a secret, and it drove him mad so he told it to the tree?
Priest : OK, so... pretend I'm a tree.
Syracuse : She brings me luck... and I don't know why. I'm afraid, Father... 'cause... I'm beginning to hope.
Priest : We should never lose hope, Syracuse.
Syracuse : She was drowned, Father, my net brought her back to life.
Priest : That doesn't make sense.
Syracuse : I know. None of it makes sense, that's why I'm afraid. I know something's going to happen, something wonderful. Or terrible. It's just the kind of girl she is. It's just the kind of person she is. And that's my secret. So what kind of tree are you, Father?
Priest : I'm a... well, I suppose I'm an oak.
Syracuse : You look like one of the ones they make hurley sticks out of.
Priest : Oh, an ash, yeah.
Syracuse : As long as you're a tree.
-
Syracuse : Do you remember your name?
Ondine : You can call me Ondine.
Syracuse : That's nice. What's it mean?
Ondine : "She came from the water."
Syracuse : Ondine... means, "she came from the water?"
Ondine : No, Ondine was the girl that came from the water.
Syracuse : When?
Ondine : Long time ago.
-
Syracuse : [clears his throat] My name's Syracuse, and I'm an alcoholic.
Priest : I've told you before, Circus, confession is not a chapter of AA.
Syracuse : There's none in this town, Father.
[stands and holds the door to the confessional open for the priest]
Syracuse : I've been sober two years, seven months and 18 days. This is where they all clap, Father.
Priest : Did you see that? In the movies?
Syracuse : Yes.
[priest humors Syracuse by quietly clapping a few times]
Syracuse : Thank you.
Priest : So, tell me.
Syracuse : I had a dream, Father. I'm at his funeral and she's beside me, and I'm panicking again.
Priest : Maybe you still want to be with her.
Syracuse : No. No, I'm panicking because I'm back with her. Can't happen. She's still drinking. All I want is Annie.
Priest : Perhaps you need to talk to someone, Circus.
Syracuse : It's Syracuse. And I'm talking to you.
Priest : No, I mean a counselor. I could put you both in touch with one if you'd give me permission.
Syracuse : You have no permission. I only talk to you 'cause it's secret.
-
Syracuse : [Ondine singing as she hand washes clothes in the brook that flows into the cove] You still here?
Ondine : You thought I'd be gone?
Syracuse : No. Thought I'd dreamed it.
Ondine : You dreamed you fished me from the water?
Syracuse : Something like that.
Ondine : So are you still dreaming now?
Syracuse : Well, that's my mother's coat.
Ondine : Sorry. I had to wash my dress.
Syracuse : Doesn't suit the dream.
Ondine : No?
Syracuse : No. She was large... my ma, and kinda awkward.
Ondine : Awkward?
Syracuse : She... yes, she was not like you.
Ondine : I can be awkward.
Syracuse : So can most of us.
-
Ondine : [Syracuse pulls the boat to the dock] Going fishing?
Syracuse : Yes. Thought I might catch another.
Ondine : Another girl like me?
Syracuse : Yes. Maybe the sea is full of them.
Ondine : Can I come with?
Syracuse : No.
Ondine : Why?
Syracuse : I thought you didn't want to be seen.
Ondine : I can hide again.
Syracuse : And it's bad luck.
Ondine : A girl on a boat?
Syracuse : For the fishing.
Ondine : Have you been having good luck lately?
Syracuse : [chuckles] No.
[Ondine aimlessly paces the dock]
Syracuse : OK then. Get in.
-
Syracuse : Sing again, would you?
[Ondine sings and Syracuse hauls up a full lobster pot]
Syracuse : Jesus... you bring me luck.
Ondine : Luck?
Syracuse : Haven't had much.
Ondine : Everyone needs luck.
Syracuse : They do. Not everyone gets it.
Ondine : Maybe it's your turn.
Syracuse : That would be nice.
-
Annie : [undergoing dialysis] Well... go on.
Syracuse : Go on what?
Annie : You said you'd tell me a story.
Syracuse : Okay. Once upon a time...
Annie : Does it always have to be, "Once upon a time?"
Syracuse : Well, it's how stories begin.
Annie : And a very good time it was.
Syracuse : Yes... It was a good time. And it was a bad time. How are you feeling, love?
Annie : Never mind about me. Go on.
Syracuse : Once upon a time... there was a fisherman. And he was pulling in his nets... and it was a normal day.
[cut to Ondine sitting outside humming, looking away as she views the cove]
Annie : And?
Syracuse : And what?
Annie : What was she?
Syracuse : What was she?
Annie : Was she a mermaid?
Syracuse : No. She wasn't a mermaid.
Annie : Was she a selkie, then?
Syracuse : What's a selkie?
Annie : A kind of seal woman. You hear them singing out on Seal Rock.
Syracuse : Who told you that?
Annie : Teacher. She comes out of the sea. Loses her seal coat. Lives on land until the sea calls her back.
Syracuse : [skeptically] Well, she didn't have a seal coat. Whatever that is. She seemed to remember drowning.
Annie : And?
Syracuse : And... that's it.
Annie : That's a real shite story.
Syracuse : Yeah? Maybe.
-
Syracuse : [leaves Odine at his mam's, on his way to pickup Annie] Malarkey.
-
Priest : Anything else?
Syracuse : I suppose there is. Yeah, I stole.
Priest : Oh, dear. What did you steal, Syracuse?
Syracuse : Some ladies' clothes.
Priest : Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear. I don't like this at all, Syracuse. This is a bad development.
Syracuse : Oh, It's not what you're thinking, Father. There was a reason.
Priest : What was the reason?
Syracuse : I stole them because I was embarrassed to be seen buying them.
Priest : What did you want them for?
Syracuse : They were for this girl I met, Father.
Priest : A girl? Where did you meet this girl?
Syracuse : I pulled her out of the water in my net.
Priest : In your net?
Syracuse : In my fishing net.
[chuckles]
Priest : You're joking, surely, Syracuse?
Syracuse : No, not joking. Dreaming, maybe. But sure I went back to my boat this morning and... there she was.
Priest : And did she spend the night in the boat?
Syracuse : No.
Priest : No? So where did this girl sleep?
Syracuse : I'm not telling you.
Priest : No? I can't force you to, can I?
Syracuse : No. And you can't tell anyone, either.
Priest : No, my lips are sealed. But you'll keep me informed of developments, Syracuse?
Syracuse : Definitely, Father.
Priest : So, will I see you at mass on Sunday?
Syracuse : You know you won't, Father.
Priest : I suppose I do. You only avail of the confessional...
[Syracuse interrupts]
Syracuse : Because there's no AA chapter in this poxy town.
Priest : You wouldn't say a couple of Hail Marys on your way out, would you?
-
Syracuse : Once upon a time...
