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The Sea

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The Sea (2003)

51%
25%
50%
N/A
N/A
N/A
51 %
Reviews Counted: 53 Fresh: 27  Rotten:26 Average Rating: 5.7/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Synopsis: The Sea is a family drama set in a remote fishing village in Iceland. The whole existence of the village is based upon the local fisheries, but new economic realities are slowly eroding that foundation. The aging owners of small fishing boats are selling their fishing quotas to larger... The Sea is a family drama set in a remote fishing village in Iceland. The whole existence of the village is based upon the local fisheries, but new economic realities are slowly eroding that foundation. The aging owners of small fishing boats are selling their fishing quotas to larger companies in other parts of the country and therefore the local processing plants have less work to offer and the community suffers.

Thordur, the ruthless patriarch of the main fishing company in the village, refuses to give in. His stand is that the benefits of greater efficiency can only come at the unacceptable cost of closing his plant and thus closing down the village. But while he's delivering sermons along those lines he also makes an aside about how the only people willing to work at his plant are foreign migrant labourers, so it is not really clear what he wants to save. But save it he does. However he also realizes that he is aging and his preferences might become moot in a heartbeat or lack thereof. The therefore decides to summon his children home, hoping to put his house in order.

He has three children. Haraldur the oldest has been minding the shop in the fishing plant, but he is weak willed and not really up to the job. To make matters worse he is in constant financial difficulties which are not helped by his alcoholic wife. His sister Ragnheidur moved away years ago, studying filmmaking abroad for a decade before settling in the capital of Reykjavik where she is married to a harmless Norwegian expat, constantly lashing at him with her sharp tongue. Agust is the youngest and his father's favourite. Thordur plans for him to run the company as soon as Agust finishes his business studies in Paris, but unbeknownst to him Agust has long since given up on that and has instead been practicing his songwriting abilities. Agust doesn't intend to heed his father's summons, but his mildly pregnant French fiancée Françoise more or less drags him to the airport if only in order for herself to better understand her boyfriend and perhaps save the relationship which is on it's last legs. The three children are not the only family members. After their mother passed away years ago Thordur married his sister-in-law Kristín, taking in her newly born daughter María of somewhat obscure paternity as well. To make matters even more complicated his octogenarian mother lives with them too, mainly snarling Sibylline curses to any and all.

His children however have other ideas about the future than their father. They want their father to sell out and are not above taking extreme measures to have their way. Their reasons are selfish in many ways, but as the argument with their father reaches climax it becomes painfully obvious that perhaps it is not the future that worries them, but rather the tragic and dark family secrets of the past. With skeletons rattling in every closet the grand family dinner takes an unexpected course and Thordur is forced to wage battle against his own family. The outcome of this battle is by no means sure, except that the victory will by Pyrrhic for all involved. -- © Blueeyes Productions [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Gunnar Eyjolfsson, Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, Helene de Fougerolles, Kristbjorg Kjeld, Sven Nordin

Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Screenwriter: Baltasar Kormákur, Olafur Haukur Simonarson
Producer: Baltasar Kormákur, Jean-Francois Fonlupt

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 8, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case

Audio:

  • (unspecified) - English

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Though there are ugly events galore, there is not an ugly frame in this entire masterpiece of a soap opera by the sea.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/07
Bruce Feld
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
3.5/4

a typical icelandic drama

Full Review | comment Comment
04/11/06
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
Ratings Image
2/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/16/05
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald
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2.5/5

The confrontational family dinner features archetypes that would have been at home on Dallas.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/20/04
Kent Turner
Film-Forward.com
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2/5

It’s Shakespeare mixed with St. Elmo’s Fire by way of Björk.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/04/03
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
4/5

For its unique mix of fire and ice, The Sea deserves to be seen.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/08/03
Jurgen Fauth
About.com
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2/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
10/01/03
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
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C

It was all so pointless.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/30/03
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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1.5/4

Kormákur is fully content pimping his particular love/hate relationships with the beautiful/harsh landscapes of Iceland in as many different masochistic scenarios as possible.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/27/03
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
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2/4

[The] film is so sullen that it's more painful than a three-day family reunion with all of your least-favorite relatives.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/12/03
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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2.5/4

The central figures... are so shrill and spiteful that it's hard to care what happens to them.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/12/03
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
Ratings Image
B+

'The Sea' is only a step above a TV soap opera. But it is a step, and we're able to feel genuine compassion for some of the characters, while reveling in the greed and stupidity of the others.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/07/03
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/08/03
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
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2.5/4

There is something willfully balanced about director- co-writer Baltasar Kormakur's vision of this imploding family.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/11/03
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
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1/4

enough heatless monologues to bore Victor Hugo

Full Review | comment Comment
07/10/03
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
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N/A

The motivations of these characters may be a tad easy to predict, but the passion with which Kormakur's cast invest themselves in the proceedings is impressive.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/03
Shawn Levy
Oregonian
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3/4

A subzero saga where dysfunction and distress -- and large quantities of herring -- rule.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/19/03
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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N/A

Funny and entertaining ... in an Icelandic sort of way.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/13/03
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
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B

The different tones don't always blend smoothly, but it's still a pretty compelling tale.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/12/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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B-

“The Sea” doesn’t have the same raw sparkle of “101 Reykjavik” and certainly lacks much of the latter’s whimsical wonder but it does represent a leap in filmmaking craft for Kormakur.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/10/03
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
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• The Sea at Rotten Tomatoes
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