Nonureva Really Surprised!

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Dennis Littrell This reminds me a bit of French family dramas with skeletons in the closet revealed amidst festive holiday get-togethers. But Director Baltasar Kormakur's Icelanders are decidedly on the wild side, corrupt, and often sloppy drunk. Their dialogue is sharp and rough, their language biting and crude, their behavior violent.The story is a bit familiar with the head of a fishing family getting old and worrying about the business he has built. Currently running it is his elder son who does not inspire confidence. In fact, he frequently goes against the old man's wishes. But it soon becomes clear that the old man has lost his judgment and is living in the past, and it is he who is detrimental to the company's bottom line.Plot point one is the return of the favorite son with his pregnant girl friend. This is the son who should be running the company, the patriarch believes. However the son has no interest in living out his life in the fishing village and neither does his girl friend. The girl friend is the objectifying element in the story, and we are compelled to see the story from her point of view.Also returning are the daughter and her husband. Together she and the older son conspire to wrest control of the company from the father...and then all hell breaks loose.Complicating matters is the fact that Kristin, the favorite son's old girl friend (and half-sibling), is still madly in love with him and won't let him go.What makes this work is a steamy script with some laugh-out-loud moments, and a careful, atmospheric direction that shows a way of life that is familiar but distant. This is ultimately a story about the encroachment of the modern world on an Icelandic fishing village. It could be a fishing village anywhere.See this for Baltasar Kormakur, a film maker of promise.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

m.p. This has to be someone's nightmare version of a family reunion. What an ugly, repulsive bunch of human beings - and it's all daddy's fault!!! While I give credit to the actors, this just isn't my idea of entertainment. I'm a big DALLAS fan so I can certainly enjoy a classic dysfunctional family setting, but this was just sordid and nasty. I felt queasy at the end and was glad it was over. I also feel the beauty of Iceland was fleeting at best - instead we see the suffocating house scenes, the inside of the fishery, and the local pub with assorted barflies acting like barflies everywhere. And did I mention the bored sullen spoiled teenagers - apparently a universal affliction wherever you may go. These people are what remains of the mighty Viking race - Thor should put them all out of their misery with his mighty hammer!

RobK-2 I think this is an excellent movie. If it was released in an English-spoken version it would probably have been a great success. I think this movie was never released in the Netherlands. Luckily it's now available on DVD. The movie is mainly Icelandic-spoken; some parts in English and French. The only problem I have with this movie is that it's hard to like any of the characters in this movie. They are all anti-social, selfish and cruel. I hope this movie is not an accurate portrayal of Icelandic social life. The only human person Françoise is from France (is there a message here?), played excellently by Hélène de Fougerolles. But her character is annoyingly passive at the crucial points at the end of the story; I found this not very convincing because at the start of the movie she's showing a lot of initiative.

dogbertios This movie was totally amazing. i loved all of the characters, and the scenery was breathtaking. Also, the scene in the hotspring was so beautiful. Great music all throughout the movie... i wanna go see it again. enough said.