jeremy3 This is a serious fun political and social satire. I only wish I were Icelandic, because I would have been rolling on the floor. On a reality based level, this movie is about a dysfunctional family. The patriarch of the family is an "old school" Icelander trying to run a fishery (while writing his memoirs). He is stoic and practical to a "t". He alienates the younger generation by being totally about the fishery and how it is supposed to be for the good of the community - a small town in Iceland. The son has spent years of schooling in France and has returned home for the holidays (and because he is broke). As one elderly woman in the family quips 'All that education to the younger generation, and what good does it do?'.The women in the movie are supposed to be the submissive females of the Icelandic society, but they are anything but. The women in the family are aggressive, greedy, and downright crazy. The only one with any sense is the Mother and the Grandmother. The Grandmother is the wise matriarch, who knows everything about everything and lives life like an elderly George Burns (whiskey, cigarettes, etc.).There are also funny minor characters. The youngest son is the teenager. He is totally the opposite of what you would expect in Iceland. He is the white hip hopper/rapper, who only wants American cheeseburgers, fries, and to play video games. The modern Icelander has outsiders - Asians, blacks, etc. They are tolerated, but the Icelanders still stick around with their own. There is also the town policeman, who is so disrespected that his only authority left is to arrest the local ram sheep.The movie comes to a fore when the children are all arguing over who will inherit the fishery. They even plot to get their father committed. In the end the factory burns down, and everyone's dreams and schemes come to a crash. I think that a deeper level this movie is a brilliant satire of Iceland in the early 21st Century. You may not know Icelandic, but the English subtitles are enough to understand and laugh about this brilliant satirical comedy.

nycritic Balthasar Kormalkur's family drama begins with two disturbing images of violence tinted with green and sick yellow hues: one of a man climbing out of the wreck of his vehicle, weeping, and another young man, seen only from his back, pouring gasoline onto the floor of some building. Both follow each other almost simultaneously, as if they were happening at the same time, and intuition indicates that this is exactly what is happening. This, of course, over the plain white credits over a black background as a sad tune plays, is the beginning of THE SEA.Somehow Iceland doesn't conjure up images of domestic violence and family dysfunction. Being so close to Ingmar Bergman's own Sweden, one gets images of slow moving stories dripping with subtext told in ways that allows for multiple interpretations. However, this is a story about a patriarch, Thordur, who has an announcement to make to his sons who all live far away from home. Agust is the youngest and the father's favorite son, and has escaped Iceland and adopted France as his country, living with his girlfriend Francoise, and who has recently quit school and spent his father's money in order to make a career out of himself in the music business. Haraldur, the older son, manages the family business while his wife Aslaug wallows in a little fashion store called Cosmopolitan and goes over the top in desperation because she wants more. The eldest sister, Ragnheidur (Rags, for short -- these names are rather complicated) is as bitter as citric acid, has a yuppie husband and teenage son.Like all family dramas, this one has the requisite secrets, jealousies, longings, and machinations that has made the best of stories (King Lear, The Little Foxes). There is little love in this family. Too many unresolved issues run amok, and it's only time before they explode in acts of rage that threaten to destroy what little unity remains. At least Kormalkur has interspersed the movie with moments of very mordant humor, one of the funniest involving Aslaug as she goes from explosion to explosion, growling like a cat in heat, so needy for a way out it's a miracle she just doesn't brain her husband's head and escape, alone, into her future. The actress playing her looks a little like Marcia Cross from "Desperate Housewives", but Aslaug is no Bree: quite the contrary, she's a veritable shrew, out for what she believes is hers.Much of the movie's momentum is focused on these three siblings converging in their home in Iceland, then their interaction with one another as they study each other like hawks or hyenas ready to devour the carcass, and the definite high gear the story goes into once Thordur reveals his announcement, which is not a pretty thing. From then on, it's a grim fight for filial supremacy that clearly won't end well. Like in "King Lear", the older siblings, monsters like Regan and Goneril, conspire to commit the father to a mental institution. However, it's the movie's Cordelia, the alienated Agust, who takes matters into his own hands and settles things in a way that can only be considered satisfying for all.So without a real hero, who can we hold onto? Answer is, no one: this is a family of siblings that are out for what they believe to be theirs. That their motives are diametrically opposed is part of the issue; Agust could be seen as the purest while the older ones could be interchangeable -- Rags being the more money hungry and Haraldur being plain practical -- and its execution is pretty sharp within its transitions from scene to scene. What may work against it is that this is one of the oldest stories in the world, and one can almost guess what is going to happen next even without the subtitles, because really: how difficult is it to retain a sense of suspense in a family drama?

RobK-2 I think this is an excellent movie. If it was released in an English-spoken version it would probably have been a great success. I think this movie was never released in the Netherlands. Luckily it's now available on DVD. The movie is mainly Icelandic-spoken; some parts in English and French. The only problem I have with this movie is that it's hard to like any of the characters in this movie. They are all anti-social, selfish and cruel. I hope this movie is not an accurate portrayal of Icelandic social life. The only human person Françoise is from France (is there a message here?), played excellently by Hélène de Fougerolles. But her character is annoyingly passive at the crucial points at the end of the story; I found this not very convincing because at the start of the movie she's showing a lot of initiative.

HoltJohnson I saw Hafid (The Sea) during a visit to Iceland. The film screens once per day with English subtitles.Made me laugh. Made me cry. Sorry, always wanted to write that.The Sea was a step forward for the director, proving his ability to handle mature and nuanced themes.A wonderful narrative on small town life, the film also explores the darkness behind familial relations. But while the family's dirty laundry was being hung out to dry for all to see, the characters were at the same time treated with compassion.Too often in ensamble films, one or more of the characters comes off flat, and the audience grows bored when that character is on the screen. In The Sea, the director spun the individual stories together so well that the viewer could find a little bit of themselves in each character. Unlike most films, the director wasn't afraid to expose the flaws of each character. As a result, they were human. And while the tone of the picture was dark, it was also uplifting, hopeful.I also enjoyed the cinematography. And the way the town became more than a backdrop to the story, but an integral piece of the narrative. Sure, the town came across as desolate, depressing and sometimes just a God awful place to live. And the question becomes, are towns like this worth saving? Thankfully, the director left that up to the audience to decide for themselves, as the credits rolled.