Undertow

Undertow is a film that seems to reflect two disparate themes: the first half of the film focuses on a mini-family drama, but after the death of the father the film changes tone, turning into a chase film that continues until the end of the film.

There is also a  fairytale-like theme throughout the story, which shows itself through the tale of the gold, through the sheddinng of blood, as well as in the slightly mythical characters that he meets. The climax of the movie is in the final confrontation between Chris and Deel in which Chris throws the gold into the river, bringing the journey of the gold and its inherant greed to its conclusion.


These themes of mysticism is contrasted with the realism of the film-making, which is especially noticable in the opening sequence. This sequence has periodic freeze frames with the brightness and contrast heightened, which brings out the gritty realism of the film. This constant pausing of the film helps to show the audience that there may be more to this sequence and this film than meets the eye. The music also helps to enhance this feeling of otherness and of something hidden.


The film ends with Tim popping a balloon, which can be interpretated one of two ways. It can either signify Chris' return to reality and normality, a return to love and compassion and the way his life was before his fathers death, or it could signify his death, and the final scenes are simply a hallucination, similar to his life flashing before his eyes.