The Seagull's Laughter

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The Seagull's Laughter

2004

1h 42m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In 1950s Iceland, a sassy widow named Freyja (Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir) arrives home from America with a newer, slimmer look and a mental list of grievances. Not one to stay single long, Freyja moves in with her aunt, uncle and shrewd young cousin, Agga (Ugla Egilsdóttir), and quickly begins looking for a new husband. She manages to charm a number of local bachelors, including Björn (Heino Ferch), but when men start turning up dead, Agga suspects Freyja of murder.

Critics Consensus

Though uneven in spots, this delightful comedy will, nevertheless, put a smile on your face.

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Janice Page

Boston Globe

08/13/2004

3/4

Lively and beautiful filmmaking.

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

07/09/2004

3/4

Seagull often is on the verge of melodrama, but in the best sense of the genre, where real life is exaggerated but never to the point of being unrecognizable.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

05/07/2004

3.5/4

An uncommonly engaging comedy with ripe tragic undertones.

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Eric D. Snider

EricDSnider.com

11/27/2004

B

The film captures the quaintness of provincial life with humor and drama, deftly mixing in feminism, too, in a way that is subtly funny and even a little disturbing.

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Sean P. Means

Salt Lake Tribune

10/15/2004

3/4

[The movie] boasts an engaging assortment of female characters and an arch sense of humor as biting as the Icelandic winds.

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Jeff Vice

Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

10/15/2004

2.5/4

The performances are solid, and the film is just different enough to please open-minded audiences.

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01/06/2010

this is the 1st time as far as i could recall to have watched a film from Iceland, complete w/its gorgeous setting. this film's kinda mixed in its treatment as parts are outright hilarious, nostalgic, serious, tragic, and meditative. if it was made longer than what i saw, it would have turned out to be boring. but then story was well crafted and awesome in its narrative---i think it's the very strength of this movie. i understand now a very good way of presenting the topic of "how to commit murder/s and getting away with it" on film----go see how it was done in this movie.

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09/27/2009

I really enjoyed this movie. I love the woman in this movie. So many characters. Its full of comedy and culture. I liked it so much. Beautifully made.

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08/28/2009

great film with a great ending

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06/26/2009

A fantastic dark comedy from Iceland. Beautiful Freyja, recently widowed, returns from America to compete with the local ladies for the attention and affection of the island's most eligible bachelors. She'll stop at nothing to obtain what she wants: arson, battering delinquent little boys, flinging live cats at her mother-in-law, maybe even murder(?).

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04/11/2009

I enjoyed this movie, a charming comedy with a dark twist. Most of all, I enjoyed the complexity of women's friendship, solidarity and the intensity of their characters. It portrays Iceland women with a lot of animus and anima. The austere landscape, the atmosphere of a fishing village, and the attention to details along with swing music in the background create a distinctive sense of time and place. I highly recommed it.

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11/11/2008

(*** 1/2): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Darkly funny and well-acted.

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Ágúst Gudmundsson

Director

Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir

Freyja

Ugla Egilsdóttir

Agga

Heino Ferch

Björn Theódór

Hilmir Snær Guðnason

Magnús

Kristbjörg Kjeld

Amma

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Synopsis

In 1950s Iceland, a sassy widow named Freyja (Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir) arrives home from America with a newer, slimmer look and a mental list of grievances. Not one to stay single long, Freyja moves in with her aunt, uncle and shrewd young cousin, Agga (Ugla Egilsdóttir), and quickly begins looking for a new husband. She manages to charm a number of local bachelors, including Björn (Heino Ferch), but when men start turning up dead, Agga suspects Freyja of murder.

Director: Ágúst Gudmundsson
Producer: Kristín Atladóttir
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 13, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 18, 2010
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR

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