The Sea

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1933.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Man on the Train"><U>Man on the Train</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1887.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Man Without a Past"><U>The Man Without a Past</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1945.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Manic"><U>Manic</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1930.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mi Casa Su Casa (the Chicago Latino Film"><U>Mi Casa Su Casa (the Chicago Latino Film Festival)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1906.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nothing More"><U>Nothing More</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1929.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Onmyoji"><U>Onmyoji</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1948.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Owning Mahowny"><U>Owning Mahowny</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1941.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pokemon Heroes"><U>Pokemon Heroes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1888.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rain"><U>Rain</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1916.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Raising Victor Vargas"><U>Raising Victor Vargas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1898.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Roger Eberts 2003 Overlooked Film Festiv"><U>Roger Ebert's 2003 Overlooked Film Festival Preview</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1950.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Roger Eberts 5th Overlooked Film Festiva"><U>Roger Ebert's 5th Overlooked Film Festival Review</U></A>   |   <B>The Sea</B>   |   <A HREF="id1886.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Seaside"><U>Seaside</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1961.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sex and the City: The Complete 4th Seaso"><U>Sex and the City: The Complete 4th Season</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1935.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Shape of Things"><U>The Shape of Things</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1940.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spellbound"><U>Spellbound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1891.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stevie"><U>Stevie</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1889.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spun"><U>Spun</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1966.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clon"><U>Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1885.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Suicide Club"><U>Suicide Club</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1954.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Together"><U>Together</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1925.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Under the Skin of the City"><U>Under the Skin of the City</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1947.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Valentin"><U>Valentin</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1956.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wrong Men Notorious Women: Five Hitchco"><U>Wrong Men & Notorious Women: Five Hitchcock Thrillers</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Page for</B></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>           </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>Similar Genres</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id959.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id959.htm"><U><B>Nordic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id1681.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/id1681.ht"><U><B>Family</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> The Sea</div> <div> <IMG SRC="37ba6050.png" border=0 width="678" height="517" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>The Sea      </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êê</B></FONT><B> ½            Not Rated</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> King Lear in the Frozen Tundra</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Gunnar Eyjolfsson ..................... Thordur</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Guðrún Gísladóttir ...........Ragnheiður</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Hilmir Snaer Gudnason  ...........  Agust</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Hélène de Fougerolles ... Françoise</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Directed by Baltasar Kormákur</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Icelandic with English subtitles.  </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> 109 Minutes.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> This intense chronicle of a family in death throes hauls all the skeletons out of the closet in the household of Thordur, the aging patriarch of the clan.  Suffering from a weak heart and writing a confessional memoir of his life, he summons his three spoiled adult children home to their fishing village in Iceland to make an announcement.  Along with his second wife, Kristín, and her daughter, Maria, all have their own reasons to feel fear and loathing of a family reunion.  The overbearing Thordur's prosperous fishing concern does business the old fashioned way and employs many in the community.  Older son Haraldur, itching to take over the reins, urges his father to adopt modern methods of doing business, but remains firmly under the old man's thumb. </div> <bR> <div> Kristín, who married Thordur following the death of her sister, (Thordur's first wife and mother of his children), is not a favorite with the kids and tries to cement a place for Maria as a full member of the clan.  Maria, taking a cue from the generations before her, is a wild girl about town, speeding around the village, mocking the local cop, and taking what she wants.  What she wants is Agust, the younger son, who has been studying in Paris and living with his girlfriend, Françoise, on Dad's dime, with the understanding that he will return to join the family business.  The only daughter, Ragnheiður, a turbulent fury, has played unsuccessfully at being a filmmaker and run through a significant amount of money loaned to her by her father.  Ineffectual Haraldur, who with his manipulative and conspicuous wife, Aslaug, are dismissed as lackeys.  Thordur comes by his pessimism honestly judging by his very old mother, Kata, who shares the household.  Instead of occupying a place of honor as the elder, Kata has kind words for no one.  Whew. </div> <bR> <div> Over the course of a few days, the grievances, wounds and desires of this group are fiercely laid bare and the limit of their malice is tested.  Thordur's purpose in writing his memoirs seems to have been to go to his grave with a clean conscience by unloading his sins onto the rest of the family, a peculiar way to obtain absolution.  The serious nature of the Icelandic people is evident in spades here, although it seemed to me they could use a little of the humor of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, whose similar Icelandic family roots he uses to more whimsical effect to plumb the depths of this harsh background.  </div> <div>  </div> <div> From director Baltasar Kormákur (<I><B>101 Reykjavik)</B></I><B>,</B> <I>The Sea (Hafið) </I>takes on the serious theme of an impaired family.  The plot skims the added issue of global economics in which large conglomerates swallow up family business, providing a subtext and much needed relief from the bitter harvest that families can reap by cultivating greed and secrets.  The poster for the film showing a steamy swimming pool scene is not particularly apropos, although sexual betrayal is key to the animosity that thrives among them.  A more offensive group of people you would be hard pressed to assemble, not a likeable member in the lot.  When the camera ventures outside the dreary village, the icy blue beauty of the barren Iceland locations echoes these desolate souls who inhabit it.  Winner of the top film prize in its home country of Iceland, it grows a bit tedious with its unrelenting joylessness.  These people never take a break from looking for the next, best, opportunity to one-up each other for fear of someone else moving in if they let their guard down.  Worthy of the treachery of King Lear, you might want to take a look at other film families you would rather be a part of, say, the <I>Crumb (</I>Terry Zwigoff, 1994) family, rather than join this lot.  With drama this intense, it needs some powerful scoring and gets it from distinguished Icelandic composer Jón Ásgeirsson.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div>  Shelley Cameron <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >Ó</FONT> 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>