Watch The Sea For Free

Very well executed

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There is not one performance in this film that isn't well done and captivating. The unusual rustic settings and photography are constantly engrossing. The direction is excellent and the editing keeps the film moving at a good pace. So what's wrong? I've seen it before. The dysfunctional Scandinavian family film is a genre unto itself. You get kung fu films from China, you get Bollywood musicals from India and you get dysfunctional family films from Scandinavia.The problems in this film are unique but the whole story arc that leads to a climatic blow-up is typical of the genre.That all said, I enjoyed the film and recommend it with the warning that you might have seen it all before.

Though the setting is Icelandic, the themes of this familial drama are universal. An aging fishing mogul invites his estranged children home and all hell breaks loose as dark family secrets are revealed and the future of the family and community at large is decided. While there is something to despise in every character (except for perhaps the French girlfriend of the youngest son trapped in the fray) the viewer is left feeling sympathy for almost everyone when all the family feels in the end is apathy for each other. The director seems to be saying that may be the greatest tragedy of all. Dark humor and small glimmers of hope (some family members escape to new lives abroad and the community seems to survive the meltdown and trudges forward) keep the film from becoming too depressing. A beautiful music score and some nice cinematography highlight the often bleak Icelandic landscape. Great direction and powerhouse performances from the international cast help the film soar to operatic heights. A must see for any fan of familial dramas.Also recommended: "Angels and Insects" and "American Beauty."

Despite being set against the paralyzing beauty of the Icelandiccoast, "The Sea" is nothing more than standard family reuniondrama. We've all seen this movie before whether in high form"Celebration" or the more banal "Home for the Holidays." Although"The Sea" shoots for the high form, it fails to surpass the banal. InBaltasar Kormakur's sophomore feature (he also directed thecritically acclaimed 101 Reykjavik), he explores the explosiverelationship between parents and children. The plot revolvesaround an aging owner of a small-town fishing business, morespecifically, his narrow vision of the future and the forces ofprogress and time that stand in his way. While Kormakur'sthemes are explicit and the tension apparent, the transitionsbetween moods and the dramatic arc are confused and sloppy.The film begins by introducing us to the perils facing the mom andpop store equivalent of the fishing industry: technologically inferior,inefficient and out-performed by the corporate competition. In theface of outstanding loses and potential bankruptcy, the stubbornaging owner who built the enterprise and consequently the townthat has grown from its existence refuses to sell out. Instead, theweak man calls upon his children in hopes that they will beinspired by a duty to family and home, resurrect the dying industryand restore the business to the father's imagined version of itsglory days. The children, who have long abandoned any sentimental connection with home land, have different ideas. Thereunion and father's request only reminds them of the years ofsuffering and mistreatment they endured while under his roof andthe repressed anger they harbored after all of these years.The film undergoes a major transition as it shifts between the firstand second acts. The first is designed as some light introductionto the backward ways of the Icelandic rural society and theincompatibility between the coca-cola city kids and the coarsenature of the unruly outback. However, as the film shifts from perilsof the practice to perils of the past, and as the comic relief issubstituted with explosions of anger, the emotional outbursts andthe venomous shouting matches seem ill-explained. The causelacks the force to bring about the ensuing eruptions, which in theend seem almost farcical on account of their extreme nature.Nevertheless in light of several outstanding shortcomings,Baltasar does shoot some very beautiful scenes and framed a seton par with poetry. Unfortunately, there was no bite to theprovocative premise.For more foreign film news, reviews and interviews check outwww.au-cinema.com

This movie was totally amazing. i loved all of the characters, and the scenery was breathtaking. Also, the scene in the hotspring was so beautiful. Great music all throughout the movie... i wanna go see it again. enough said.