The Seagull's Laughter

The Seagull's Laughter


Starring:Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir, Ugla Egilsdóttir, Heino Ferch, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Kristbjörg Kjeld, Edda Björg Eyjólfsdóttir, Bára Lyngdal, Eyvindur Erlendsson, Guðlaug Ólafsdóttir, Sigurlaug Jónsdóttir, Dilja Mist, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jónína Ólafsdóttir, Charlotte Boving, Benedikt Erlingsson, Arnar Jónsson, Anna Kristín Arngrímsdóttir, Gunnar Hansson, Baldur T. Hreinsson, Guðmundur Ólafsson
Director: Ágúst Guðmundsson
Studio: Homevision
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
An Icelandic film set in the 1950s, The Seagull's Laughter supports the dramatic truism that there are only really two tales to tell-- the tale of a long journey, or one in which a stranger comes to town. This charming and funny film falls into the latter category. The stranger is Freya (Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir), an Icelandic diva who returns from America after her serviceman husband dies, only to immediately stun her household of relatives into awed admiration as she vamps with her impressive wardrobe and charms the town's men. Her actions are observed by the women of the house, including the keen-eyed young girl Agga (Ugla Egilsdóttir), who comes to suspect Freya of murder. There's not much suspense in the chicanery that ensues, with the film rooted in these women's sisterhood of willfulness rather than the who-done-it mechanics of a standard-issue thriller. At its best, the film interlocks with greater Icelandic literary and dramatic traditions, the sagas with their strong-willed female protagonists and the fortitude of characters from the works of Nobel laureate Haldor Laxness. The cinematography is a step up from recent Icelandic films like Noi and 101 Reykjavik, with otherworldly blue twilight and gnarled geography suggesting Middle Earth more than Middle-Atlantic. The Seagull's Laughter is a comedy about cold-blooded murder that naturally leaves one feeling pleasantly warm. --Ryan Boudinot
Description
It is 1953, and Freya, who had gone to America as an officer's bride, has returned home to begin a new life. She moves into a small house of distant relatives in a quiet fishing village within Iceland. But unlike the drab, plump girl who went abroad, Freya, now in her twenties, is a stunningly beautiful woman. With her long chestnut brown hair, slender figure, and chic American fashions, she is somewhat of a mystery to the women of the household, including the inquisitive eleven-year-old Agga, and especially to the men of the community. But as Agga soon notices, strange things have been happening since Freya's arrival. Women are asserting their independence and men are mysteriously keeling over. Is Freya a murderess? A goddess of love? These are questions young Agga would very much like to have answered.
The Seagull's Laughter
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • "Let these right-wing exploiters gape and stare."
  • A SIMPLY GREAT MOVIE
  • Steamy stew of a story
  • To Die For
  • A Fine Black Comedy With A Strong Woman
 The Seagull's Laughter
Starring: Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir , Ugla Egilsdóttir , Heino Ferch , Hilmir Snær Guðnason , and Kristbjörg Kjeld
Director: Ágúst Guðmundsson
Manufacturer: Homevision
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007989RU
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Amazon.com

An Icelandic film set in the 1950s, The Seagull's Laughter supports the dramatic truism that there are only really two tales to tell-- the tale of a long journey, or one in which a stranger comes to town. This charming and funny film falls into the latter category. The stranger is Freya (Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir), an Icelandic diva who returns from America after her serviceman husband dies, only to immediately stun her household of relatives into awed admiration as she vamps with her impressive wardrobe and charms the town's men. Her actions are observed by the women of the house, including the keen-eyed young girl Agga (Ugla Egilsdóttir), who comes to suspect Freya of murder. There's not much suspense in the chicanery that ensues, with the film rooted in these women's sisterhood of willfulness rather than the who-done-it mechanics of a standard-issue thriller. At its best, the film interlocks with greater Icelandic literary and dramatic traditions, the sagas with their strong-willed female protagonists and the fortitude of characters from the works of Nobel laureate Haldor Laxness. The cinematography is a step up from recent Icelandic films like Noi and 101 Reykjavik, with otherworldly blue twilight and gnarled geography suggesting Middle Earth more than Middle-Atlantic. The Seagull's Laughter is a comedy about cold-blooded murder that naturally leaves one feeling pleasantly warm. --Ryan Boudinot

Description

It is 1953, and Freya, who had gone to America as an officer's bride, has returned home to begin a new life. She moves into a small house of distant relatives in a quiet fishing village within Iceland. But unlike the drab, plump girl who went abroad, Freya, now in her twenties, is a stunningly beautiful woman. With her long chestnut brown hair, slender figure, and chic American fashions, she is somewhat of a mystery to the women of the household, including the inquisitive eleven-year-old Agga, and especially to the men of the community. But as Agga soon notices, strange things have been happening since Freya's arrival. Women are asserting their independence and men are mysteriously keeling over. Is Freya a murderess? A goddess of love? These are questions young Agga would very much like to have answered.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars "Let these right-wing exploiters gape and stare.".......2007-03-04

"The Seagull's Laughter", a strange and hypnotic film, is set in Iceland in the 1950s. The film begins with a light playful, comedic tone, but very quickly morphs into a dark, subversive tale that explores class differences and the suffocating roles of women. The film is told through the eyes of an orphaned young girl, Agga (Ugla Egilsdottir) who is at first impressed by her older, glamorous cousin Freyja (Margret Vilhjalmsdottir). After many years absence, Freya arrives abruptly one day and moves in to the already crowded house where Agga lives with her grandmother.

Freyja left Iceland to marry an American military man, but now she's back in Hafnarfjordur, a small fishing village. Freyja claims to be a widow offering only a brief, trite explanation that is accepted without question. Meanwhile, she moves in with her relatives. The house contains 5 women--6 once Freyja moves in, and there is only one man in the household who manages to stay away on a fishing boat for most of the year, returning only occasionally for short periods in between work. Freyja's relatives are more interested in Freya's 7 trunks of extremely expensive, fashionable clothing than in why she's back in the village. Well-cut suits show off her 20-inch waist and cling to her stylishly. Freyja seems wildly out of place in the remote Icelandic village. And this, of course, raises the question, why did she return?

Agga is very curious about Freyja, and of all in the females in the household, she remains a little aloof, a little skeptical about Freyja's motives. The other women form a protective unit around Freyja, and this bond becomes impenetrable when Freyja commits certain acts geared towards protecting and avenging the women in her circle. The roles of women in this Icelandic village are not appetizing. Women of Freyja's class live in primitive hut-type dwellings, and are subject to beatings and constant infidelity from their brutish husbands. Somehow we know that Freyja won't tolerate this. She seems removed from this sort of existence, and then she casts her eyes on wealthy engineer Bjorn Theodor (Heino Ferch) a man who's considered above her class, and much too good for her by most of the villagers. But apart from the obstacle of class removing him from Freyja's sphere, Theodor is also engaged to another woman--the magistrate's horsey daughter.

Freyja eventually secures a job in the village's tiny chemist shop, and she defies societal norms by selling rubbing alcohol to the village drunks. Naturally, this makes her popular with all the drunks in town, but brings condemnation from those trying to enforce the no-alcohol law. Freyja--a Norse goddess of sex, fertility, love, death and magic--amongst other things--becomes a goddess amongst the women of her class in this Icelandic village. Unexplained events hints at a supernatural power. Is she an enchantress, a seductive witch or is she a woman who fearlessly achieves her objectives? Interestingly, it is Agga's thrust into womanhood that also propels her firmly into Freyja's circle of female power.

"The Seagull's Laughter" is an extremely unusual, multi-layered film. Directed by Agust Guomundsson the film begins with a quirky humorous tone, and yet this beginning is not indicative of the depths of this dark, hypnotic tale. The DVD includes a number of extras: deleted scenes, 'a making of' featurette, the theatrical trailer, and an essay by the director. Highly recommended, the film is in Icelandic and Danish with English subtitles--displacedhuman

5 out of 5 stars A SIMPLY GREAT MOVIE.......2007-01-21

I pulled this movie off the shelf at the Seattle Public Library not knowing what to expect. Was I pleasantly surprised.

A chapter in the age-old struggle between the sexes. Here the women are on top. The men of the small Icelandic village are-with the exception of the fisherman grandfather-stupid and often drunken louts. The women are superior-if only by default. It is called a dark comedy, but the men who get bumped off are so loathsome their deaths are not very dark. And the killings are more self-defense in the broader sense than premediated murder.

I do disagree with those reviewers who see Freya the cousin who returns from seven years in America as the feminist heroine. Instead Freya is just another attractive female who cunningly uses her sexuality against men. Her quest is merely for material gain and status. She is an Icelandic Becky Sharp.

The real hero I think is Agga, wonderfully played by Ugla Egilsdottir. She is a shrewd observer of the follies of the adults around her -with a gift for profitting from their antics. As she matures from age 11 to 14 she comes to understand that the men around her are not to be trusted. She begins to acquire her cousin's sexual allure, but with a deeper understanding of the world than the merely staus-conscious Freya.

A superb movie well worth watching and owning. I only wish the novel on which it is based was available in English.

5 out of 5 stars Steamy stew of a story.......2006-06-26


Other places provide good descriptions of this movie; I'll just mention how it made me feel, which is lighthearted and happy.

These are characters you'll never forget from a time that no longer exists set in a land that is timeless. The story is full of warmth, humor, paradox, and intrigue.

The protaganist, Freya, is beautiful, cunning and principled like people who rarely exist today. She may be a witch or sainted, but you're never really sure. Agga, her 11-year old foil, tracks her every move and often directs the action; she's a clever and wise 11-year old who's also a kid's kid, given to spontaneous cartwheels and pre-adolescent sulks. She's also unforgettable. The two of them set an entire town on it's ear and nothing is ever the same.

This movie is wonderfully atmospheric and attentive to detail, from the down-covered beds to the crunch of the snow to the hanging fish and fresh-brewed coffee. All create a distinctive sense of time and place. And the magnificent, Icelandic light and austere terrain is simply breathtaking in its beauty.

A lot of the story is charming/funny, even quizzical, like the women's nonchalant reaction to bad or unexpected news and the grandfather's tacit acceptance of the wacky antics of his household's community of women. Whether just Nordic temperament, or great story telling, I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it's great fun. Imagine Alan Ball collabroating with Frank Capra who's consulted with Ocsar Wilde, and you've got it. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars To Die For.......2006-05-10

Much like that underrated early Nicole Kidman satire, The Seagull's Daughter is a funny, dark black comedy set in Iceland in the 1950s. I was impressed by the strangely compelling cinematography, capturing Iceland in the various seasons, not so much beautiful as more other worldly.

The actors are well-cast, with a true star turn by the unpronounceable but stunningly beautiful star, and the precocious and charming young cousin. The narrative includes peculiar and endearing townsfolk, love, lust, humor, intrigue, murder, and lots of dried fish. It's a potent mix.

4 out of 5 stars A Fine Black Comedy With A Strong Woman.......2005-03-29

This is an intriguing, deadpan black comedy of women deciding that men often are boors, unreliable and untrustworthy, and while at times nice play things, they always need to be kept in check.

It's 1952, and after seven years in America Freya (Margret Vihjalmsdottir) has returned a widow to her small Icelandic fishing village. What happened to the officer she married? It's not quite clear. She's slim, sexual, with trunks of clothes. She's welcomed into the home of her relatives, essentially a house of women whose male head is often away at sea on his fishing trawler. His wife, an elderly, pleasant and straightforward woman, is really the boss, and in the house with her lives her sister-in-law, her two daughters and her granddaughter whose parents died. It's a respectable working class home in a village that is socially divided and proper. Freya, however, is not about to settle for the traditional female status quo. And her 11 year old cousin, Agga (Ugla Egilsdottir), is torn between disliking her intensely and being intrigued with her.

Freya is a liberated woman before female liberation was thought of much. She is aware of her sexual power and she's not going to settle for second best. She has a way of strengthening the resolve of the other women around her. And she seems prepared to take drastic action when called upon. The wife-beating drunkard who is the husband of her best friend dies in a mysterious fire. The man she marries who turns out to be tied to his mother's apron strings (and a drunk and adulterer to boot) winds up at the foot of a flight of stairs, dead. At first it's not clear how many of the women may have helped him on his way. And through all of this Agga is observing, and sometimes interfering. The conclusion of the film has Freya an undoubtedly wealthy widow again, who probably is going to wind up running the town. The women she has encountered are considerably more forceful and confident than they would ever have been without her. In some cases some of the other women are probably going to regret she ever came back from America. Agga, too, has changed. From a smart, resentful 11 year-old Agga has become a young woman of 14, starting to be conscious of what being a woman can mean. I have the feeling she's going to remember Freya's lessons.

The movie is a comedy, but a comedy with an edge. Freya can be selfish and at times manipulative. Most of the men either seem to be oblivious of what they take for granted or become unselfconscious oafs. The bright male spark comes from a young policeman who doesn't take Agga's stories of Freya seriously...but then begins to notice that Agga isn't just a little girl anymore. The Icelandic scenery is beautiful, bright and cold. And much of the movie's music is pulled from Forties' swing. The opening and closing theme is a quartet singing Sh-boom. I liked the movie and recommend it.

The DVD looked great.

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