Review of The Seagull's Laughter

I can't really pigeon-hole this film. It's a kind of Icelandic Witches of Eastwick soap opera laden with Icelandic lore and served up with a wonderful cast of Icelanders, none of whose names I recognize or have seen before, that takes you down a winding, rocky, barren, stark, coastal path to a place where you wonder what's going on. Having gotten there, you know no more than when you started out but you've had one helluva time getting there. The two principals, Freyja (Margret Vilhjalmsdottir) and Agga, (Ulga Egilsdottir)generate a chemistry of love and intrigue between an older, mysterious woman and the younger, naive but precocious prepubescent girl, mixed with admiration and loathing. This is a delightful glimpse into the stark, cold world of Iceland, their subtle class system and some marvelous faces. Margret Vilhjamsdottir's has the same stark, sharp beauty of Aussie Nicole Kidman with eyes that can light fires and Ulga Egilsdottir's face is a delight to watch. All in all, this is a real romp of a film and I do love the non-ending.