The film is totally surreal. The story begins with two mermaid sisters popping out of the water in 1980s Warsaw while a rock band (which ends up feeling more like punk to me) is playing on the beach. Fascinated by the scene and tired of the dark, cold water, they are drawn to the 'human' world they discover there.
The sisters are named Golden and Silver. They both seem to fall for the band's bassist, Mietek, and follow the group to a nightclub/strip joint. They are eventually hired as a novelty act after the owners discover that contact with water gives them each a massive tail. When they dry off, the tails disappear (unless they purposely keep them wet) and they appear to have human legs. Curiously, they lack genitalia or bums, even when their 'legs' are visible.
But these are certainly not My Little Mermaid creatures! They are nasty predators - presumably what kept them alive in the sea. They are human-eaters (anthropophagous - I had to look that up) with vampire-like sharp teeth and a craving for blood. However, they find themselves in conflict because they want to mix with, and eventually become, humans rather than eat them. Well, at least for the time being! While Silver falls in love with Mietek and dreams of a human life with him, the cynical Golden sticks to her nature. Irritated that her sister is drifting away, Golden wanders about bumping off and eating the odd human here and there!
Then comes the catch - the mythical law of the sea dictates that if a mermaid falls in love with a human and that human marries someone else, the mermaid must eat him by dawn or she will turn into sea foam! Furthermore, if a mermaid has her tail surgically removed, she loses her voice. It is all very complicated - thank goodness for the research of others, from whom I could learn and verify these details!
Spoilers ahead now
Silver undergoes gruesome surgery to replace her tail with human legs, using a donor who happened to die in a local hospital. However, after all that trouble, Mietek rejects her anyway as he can't stop seeing her as a fish rather than a woman - even with her new legs. He legs it (pun intended) and swiftly marries someone else! So now we can guess what's going to happen - the aforementioned law comes into play and Silver must eat him or turn to sea foam!
Throughout this, Golden lurks in the background, trying to convince Silver to eat Mietek to save her own life and return to the sea with her. Silver refuses because she is so head-over-heels in love with him, regardless of his treatment of her. As you might imagine, the outcome is tragic - Silver dissolves into sea foam in Mietek's arms during a final embrace on his wedding night. Enraged, Golden rips his throat out anyway before heading back to the waves alone!
Director Agnieszka Smoczyńska apparently used the mermaids as a metaphor for immigrants, outsiders, and the female experience in 1980s Poland. Just before the fall of Communism, these figures were exploited for their bodies in nightclubs and controlled by powerful men, expected to change themselves just to fit in. This reflected the director's own childhood, growing up amidst similar backdrops.
It made me wonder though whether or not a mermaid be a cannibal. Apparently they are not actually mermaids but Sirens from Slavic and Greek mythology, who were often bloodthirsty. So by eating humans, they aren't committing cannibalism in a biological sense (as they aren't human), but they represent the predatory nature of desire. They consume what they love. The hunger - physical, sexual and emotional - is ever-present. The film throws out Disney ideals and reminds the viewer that in original folklore, these creatures were maneaters!
The music leaps between genres - head-banging rock, punk and orchestral arrangements. It plays out like a classic musical, with characters frequently breaking into song left, right and centre - reminiscent of The Sound of Music, but with far more posturing and grunge. It feels like a rock-horror (maybe in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and is, in that respect, an ambitious project. I do wish I understood Polish, as I think I may have connected with it better - or perhaps a well-executed English dub would have helped.
Ultimately, I quite enjoyed it. The gruesome violence was striking and there is a fair amount of nudity, as Golden and Silver are bare-chested whenever their tails are present. There are a few sex scenes, but the focus remains primarily on the blood and gore. It is a truly interesting watch. Hopefully my notes and research here will help you avoid getting as lost as I was at the outset and during most of it!
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