Undine

A romantic love story full of drama. Enchantingly beautiful and dangerous water nymphs have always been the stuff of romantic tales filled with adventure and a willingness to remain faithful until death. Benjamin Lacombe has reimagined the ancient Undine legend and captured it in dramatic images full of passion. The young knight Hans von Ringstetten finds refuge in a fisherman's hut in an enchanted forest and falls in love with the mysterious foster daughter of the fishermen, Undine. They become a couple, and soon Hans proudly rides into the imperial city with his Undine, where the duchess's daughter Ursula has been waiting for him. Ursula ingratiates herself with the happy couple, and when she discovers that Undine is actually a water spirit, she already has a plan to win the handsome Hans back for herself. Lacombe draws on the Undine tale written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, based on medieval motifs. Following the bestseller of 1811, there were adaptations including an opera by E.T.A. Hoffmann, another by Lortzing, and a play by Giraudoux, and of course, Andersen's beloved The Little Mermaid is also a variation of the Undine story. Just as Lacombe masterfully takes ownership of the old material, he also stylishly transforms several world-famous paintings from the 19th century.