In 1953, Freya (Margret Vilhjalmsdottir) returns to the small fishing town in Iceland where she was born. Only instead of the chubby overweight girl who left years ago for America, she is now a slim and sexy widow with suitcases full of flashy clothes. Her eleven-year old cousin, Agga (Ugla Egilsdottir), is immediately fascinated and repulsed by her self-confidence and erotic mystery.
Freya moves into the extended household run by Granny (Kristbjorg Kjeld) and Grandpa (Eyvindur Erlendsson), a fisherman. The rest of the clan, including two other daughters and Granny's pipe-smoking sister-in-law, are all quite taken with the style and drama Freya brings to their house. The one who is most thrilled by her return is her best friend, Disa (Bara Lyngdal Magnusdottir), who is married to a violent and abusive drunk. She desperately needs someone to comfort her and raise her self-confidence. Freya more than adequately fills the bill. She also proves to be the only one in the town who has any compassion for three drunks.
Bjorn Theodor (Heino Ferch), a construction engineer and a shareholder in the local fishing industry, is engaged to be married to Birna (Halldora Geirharosdottir), daughter of the magistrate. However, during the celebrations of National Day, he falls for Freya and spends the night with her. They eventually marry and move into his large home. She soon squares off with Theodor's haughty and domineering mother (Jonina Olafsdottir), who regards her as nothing more than a predatory working-class tramp. It seems as if Freya has everything she wants when her husband gives her the money to open her own clothing store and she gets pregnant. She even manages to win the eye of Magnus (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason), the handsome police officer who has been told by Agga that "she is colder than a corpse."
This compelling Icelandic film directed by Agust Gudmundsson is based on a novel by Kristin Marja Baldursdottir. It is a richly detailed adult fairytale about the coming of age of a moral crusader — Agga — who is determined to expose the evil deeds of an outsider in the community. It helps to know that the name Freya is that of the Goddess of Love in old Norse mythology. During the film, this mysterious woman makes several late night trips to the lava field outside of town. Agga follows her and becomes convinced that she is cavorting with the devil or with elves rumored to be part of that forbidding landscape.
It is interesting to watch how Agga's obsession with Freya begins to transform her character turning this voyeur into a deceitful and nasty person. One can only imagine the kind of woman she will become after all that she has done and seen. The revealing closing scene of the film is a real corker. The Seagull's Laughter explores the dark corners of human passion and the dangers posed by moral crusaders when their obsessions turn them around and make them into what which they most despise.
