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So,...I'm something of a sucker for low-budget movies. Some, like Love Immortal, were diamonds in the rough, waiting for a professional polishing from Hollywood. Others, too many to list here, look like a pair a stoners with too much money and easily-entertained friends made them for the heck of it. Then some are just right where they are - the kind of stuff you watch at the local "art house" theatre during a film festival.
The Siren (a/k/a The Rusalka) is one of those movies. A rumination on fate, redemption, hatred, jealousy and vengeance.
Nina, the titular Siren, we are told at the beginning, was once a beautiful woman who drowned in the lake and was transformed into a murder-driven monster. Through flashbacks, her Siren self-realization is filled with horror, resistance and, ultimately resignation that she must drown all those she encounters in the lake. (The murders are mostly implied or a quick tug under the surface).
Al, a widower, is drawn to the lake, believing the drowning death of his husband was at the hands of the Rusalka.
Tom, a mute minister-in-training, is staying at a rented lakeside house ahead of his baptism and end of his ministerial training. Tom meets Nina one day while walking along the shore. Charmed by her beauty, he communicates with her as best he can. Nina, coyly seductive, is equally charmed by Tom and, resisting her fate, swims away from the shore, dreaming of a human life at his side and in his bed.
Tom and Al, as lakeside neighbors, become friends and share their encounters with the enchanting Nina.
The idyllic romance between Tom and Nina comes crashing down during a impromptu barbeque with the three. Al realizes, with horror, that his beliefs are true, as Nina reveals her true nature to him. Tom also comes to the realization that Nina is an evil being, albeit one he can save through his faith.
In the end, none of them fulfill their dreams. Tom's failed attempt at saving Nina leaves him seeking the solace in the ministerial duties. Al succumbs to his attempt at revenge and Nina, having lost the love of Tom and all hope of returning to the world, retreats to the depths of the lake.
