Hafið (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Baltasar Kormákur

Writers:

Baltasar Kormákur (writer)
Ólafur Haukur Símonarson (play)

Release Date:

13 September 2002 (Iceland)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The truth lies beneath the surface

Plot:

A rich father in a fisher village plans to take on the project of writing his life story. But first he has to take on his own family, and everybody wants something...

Plot Keywords:

Sexual Abuse | Fishing | Dysfunctional Family | Snow | Family Relationships

Awards:

10 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Gunnar Eyjólfsson	...	Þórður
Hilmir Snær Guðnason	...	Ágúst
Hélène de Fougerolles	...	Françoise
Kristbjörg Kjeld	...	Kristín
Sven Nordin	...	Morten
Guðrún Gísladóttir	...	Ragnheiður
Sigurður Skúlason	...	Haraldur
Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir	...	Áslaug
Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir	...	María
Herdís Þorvaldsdóttir	...	Kata
Þórir Gunnar Jónsson	...	Teenager
Theódór Júlíusson	...	Bóbó
Hjalti Rögnvaldsson	...	Bensó
Ellert Ingimundarson	...	Hannes
Magnús Ragnarsson	...	Agent

Also Known As:

The Sea (Canada: English title) (France) (International: English title)
Havet (Norway)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

Iceland | France | Norway

Language:

Icelandic | Norwegian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Norway:15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:R(A) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich)

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Blueeyes Productions

Trivia:

Despite the fact that 'Herdís orvaldsdóttir' is only 3 years older than Gunnar Eyjólfsson, she plays his mother in the movie.

Quotes:

Kata: Anyone who doesn't eat whale, doesn't deserve to live.

Brilliant

It's great to go into a film knowing nothing about it before hand. This was the case when I saw "The Sea." While you can easily see it was adapted from a play the themes are consistent and handled cinematically for the most part.

The first thing that is apparent is that the casting in this film is ridiculously perfect. No actor feels out of place. Speaking of which neither are any of the scenes. It is rare to watch such a multi-character film and never be left confused about who's who. All the characters are sharply defined and they all illustrate the struggle amongst family, between the generations and the joining or avoidance of a globalized world.

The scenes in the pool and the scenes with the black sheep are accessible symbolism that serve comedic or story functions such that the audience is never lost. Another amazing thing is that even though all the characters have undesirable traits they're all funny and identifiable. The only place the film falters in anyway is that the father has a speech that's a little too long at the end. With the way the film cuts the framing of the story is very surprising.

The acting all around is great but those who stand out are Gunnar Eyjólfsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Hélène de Fougerolles, Guðrún Gísladóttir and Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir.

Whenever watching a foreign film, especially one from a culture I'm not that familiar with, I always look for two things: 1. does it seem indigenous and not overly influenced by Hollywood? 2. While being indigenous does it communicate a universal message and/or theme. "The Sea" succeeds in both cases.