4/5 A dark Icelandic comedy
  by Nikolai (VT)
Good movie, but not for everyone. No spoilers here, but I want to warn people that this is a dark movie. Yes, it's sort of like a comedy, but it's a distinctly dark comedy. It has an abundance of irony, but not many laugh our loud moments. Interestingly, the most sympathetic characters turn out to be three of the oldest: the two older women who work in a fishery and the husband of one of them, an old fisherman with strong socialist leanings. Class distinctions and snobbery of the Iceland of the early 1950s are an important undercurrent in this film. Freyja, the main character, is an intense and headstrong seductress who possesses a number of admirable qualities. But, and that's a crucial but, those are not the only qualities she possesses. It probably helps to know that Freyja is the name of a Norse goddess. Although there are many variations, this goddess is often associated with lust as well as battle and death. Those with some knowledge of Icelandic lore would probably realize the significance of Freyja's nightly walks. Not knowing any of that, however, probably does not detract too much from the movie. I better leave it at that, so as not to reveal too much.

4/5 The war between men and women . . .
  by Ronald Scheer (Los Angeles)
This remarkable little dark comedy from Iceland is not so little. It tells a rambling story of women in a remote part of the world dealing with men who make poor marriage material. From the three village drunks to an engineer in a fine house, there is not a one to provide a secure home and a lasting relationship. A handsome young policeman seems the sole exception, but he has trouble accepting the truth about this war between men and women when he's presented with the facts, which happen to come from the mouth of an 11-year-old girl he believes is making up stories. When she finally grows into a young woman herself, he's ready to believe her, but by then she has become self-protective and deceptive, like all the older women before her.

Set in the early 1950s it centers on the affairs of several women living together in the house of an older sailor who is for the most part at sea and earns a degree of respect within the framework of the film by being a) a socialist and b) absent most of the time. A cousin returning from America after the sudden death of her young husband (a murder?) settles in with them and makes her presence known in town as a kind of Rita Hayworth in its midst, catching the eye of its most eligible bachelor while taking matters into her own hands when the men who cross her path step out of line. Full of ironies and dark humor (it begins and ends with the Crew Cuts' song "Shboom"), the film is also beautifully photographed with a large cast of characters. The DVD has a brief making-of featurette and deleted scenes. For filmgoers who like something way out of the ordinary.

5/5 Took Me Home
  by T. Martyny (San Francisco, CA USA)
Dark comedy is pretty common in Iceland, and I've got to say this is actually fairly light. Children's stories in Iceland are darker humor than this. Really, it's not so bad. ;)

What I loved about this film is it took me home. My family is from Hafnarfjörður. The sound of the snow crunching under their feet, I could almost taste the pönukukur and the kleinur... Hiding and playing with friends while my Amma was sewing... The stories about the elves in the hills.. running through the lava fields. i can't vouch for the representation of how the rich live, but Agga's life and family definitely took me home.

I highly recommend it to other Icelanders.

5/5 A Lot to Laugh About
  by Andreas M. Rau (Rochester, New York USA)
"The Seagull's Laughter," an Icelandic film, just goes to show you that great things can come from small countries. A somewhat "black comedy," the film revolves around Freya, who returns to her family in a small Icelandic fishing town after being widowed in America. She sets herself out to improve the social standing of herself and her relatives, and a few fatal "accidents" occur in the course of her social climbing. Freya's younger cousin is unimpressed, and frequently reports her actions to the town's lone policeman as homicide. The policeman, fascinated by Freya, pooh poohs the younger girl. There's even a great twist at the ending of the film.
Worth buying, and it should be seen over and over again!

4/5 Wow! Wow! And, WOW!
  by Señorita Adriana (Tennessee)
First and foremost, this movie is rated a big, fat "R." It contains nudity and sexuality in a big way!

The first WOW of this movie is the main character. She's stunning, graceful, underhandedly empowered, and oozing sexuality in a non-femme fatal sort of way--at least the magistrate and all but the young cousin assume she's harmless, that is.

The second WOW of this movie is the style! My but they dressed these women beautifully! If you love the style of the post-WWII years, this is one of the best movies to watch!

The third WOW is garnered from the intriguing plot line. On the surface, the story appears to be about a widow who goes about the not-so-hidden task of finding a replacement husband--preferably one who will help her keep the lifestyle she was accustomed to in the States. But then there are the layers...

Fascinating story!