The Sea

During its opening weekend in Iceland, The Sea broke all records, primarily indicating that cinema goers in Iceland are also interested in slightly less cheerful portraits of island life. The sequel to Kormákur’s successful début film, the sex comedy 101 Reykjavik, is about the vicissitudes of a prominent family that works in the fishing industry in a small village. Thordur, the family patriarch, tries to persuade his son August, who is studying business management in Paris, to come and save his ailing business from closure. But August is not interested in fish, he would rather write songs. The eldest son Haraldur, who runs the fish market but is not trusted by his father, cooks up a plan with his brother-in-law to take over the company.
Kormákur sketches a fine portrait of a small village community, where the eyes of the outsider (the French girlfriend of August) see nothing of what is really afoot. Everyone seems to know all about each other, but no one can say anything about it. That changes in a long night when diverse interests, secrets, bitterness and hidden lust reach boiling point.
In the convincing cast, Gunnar Eyjólfsson is especially striking as the pater familias.