By Tristan Bishop
Discounting the big 80’s comedy hit Splash (and its sequel Splash Too) and a certain Disney film, mermaids haven’t really made much of an impact on the cinematic world. Sure, there was the bit in Cabin In The Woods, but that amounted to little more than a throwaway joke (albeit still the best thing in the film!). Now from Poland comes The Lure (original title Corki Dancingu, which translates as ‘Daughters Of The Dance’), a story featuring not one, but two mermaids. Sisters in fact. And set in 1980s Polish clubland. I’ll be honest – the one line synopsis sold me instantly.
For those still in need of convincing – our titular mermaids are helped ashore by members of a nightclub band. They are taken to the (surprisingly large) club where the sleazy older owner decides to put them to work as a nightclub attraction. Of course, sexy teenage mermaids prove to be a big draw, and, working their way from backing vocals they become the star attraction at the club. But, as is traditional for mermaids, human love soon complicates matters, not helped by their thirst for blood and the presence of a heavily-scarred punk rocker who may not quite be human himself.
If I had to sum up The Lure in one sentence (I know, I get about 700 words to do it in, but humour me), it would be ‘Jean Rollin meets Baz Luhrmann’. The slightly anachronistic, brightly lit portrayal of 80s clubland hosting a touching tale of sisterhood and love mixed with a large dollop of blood and nudity.
It’s also a musical.
I can sense some of you clicking away from this review already, but wait! This is a musical in the sense that, say, The Wicker Man is a musical. The film, being about a band, features many performances, and, well, mermaids traditionally being known for their songs, it makes a lot of sense to represent that in the film. The songs, like the Wicker Man, seem to function as spells at times (something which is mirrored by the film’s English title), and there are some great numbers here. The film even opens with a cover of Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder’s I Feel Love, which, frankly, is always a good way to kick off proceedings. Fittingly for a film about music, the sound design is also a joy to behold, especially the mermaid’s private language (which sounds to these ears like something between dolphin and cat), and the film is never less than a joy to look at, with impressively composed scenes and some excellent effects (the mermaid tails are rather wonderful).
Thankfully it isn’t all just an exercise in slightly gruesome camp (although that would, of course, be acceptable). There’s also an underlying examination of the roles women play in society (the director, Agnieszka Smoczynska, is female), which is done with a pleasing lightness-of-touch and will therefore appeal to those who are looking for such things as well as those who don’t usually like to venture too far under the bonnet. Special mention needs to go to the actresses (Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszańska) as the mermaids, charmingly named Silver and Golden respectively, who pull off equal amounts of naivety, sexuality and animal cunning, and to Kinga Preis as the singer in the band who lend their name to the film, who finds her front women role increasingly sidelined whilst she also takes on a mothering role to the mermaid girls.
It’s not 100% perfect. There are a couple of characters who seem to appear and disappear at random, and occasionally it’s not entirely clear what’s going on, as the plot becomes as murky as an underwater grotto – which suggests that perhaps the film has been edited down from a longer running time, but there’s so much here to enjoy that you probably won’t care all that much. Let The Lure take you under its spell.