Raven-1969 "Tis better to be that which we destroy," said MacBeth "than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy." This advice goes unheeded by a cluster of people on the outskirts of Reykjavik. Trivial matters take on increased significance and are taken to extremes. Such things as a missing cat, haughty new girlfriend and solitary tree, fuel doubt, suspicion, revenge and anger. Nothing is too trivial to spar over. At the foundation of it all is grief, depression, indifference and loneliness, but people let their emotions spiral out of control anyway. Has everyone lost their minds?! Perhaps they have.This darkly humorous cautionary tale about the hazards of runaway passions, is as frightening as it is funny. This is because the truths of the film cut to the bone about human character. The scenes, conversations and characters are straightforward and unassuming. The music is well chosen, actors are believable, and many scenes are refreshingly atypical of Hollywood fare, such as a beautiful view of downtown Reykjavik. Seen at the Miami Film Festival.

lucielescude The movie is really well shot which makes it particularly enjoyable to watch. The characters are interesting and the family drama is really well-built, especially the story around Askurs' brother disappearance, which gets revealed as the movie goes on. The ending is quite heavy but all-together the movie isn't so difficult to watch as it also has some lighter scenes and even some humor. I really enjoyed the whole experience of watching this movie, and it's not everyday you get to watch an Icelandic movie! I would definitely recommend it.

MartinHafer In the description of "Under the Tree" in the film festival guide, it was a bit difficult to see whether or not the movie was a comedy. And, in watching it, this difficulty was NOT alleviated. Some folks saw the film as an ultra-dark comedy (perhaps like "War of the Roses") others saw it as a drama or cautionary tale. As for me, I just felt it was too dark to be laughed at and overall I found that it was well made but miserable to watch.The film is about a husband-wife who split up as well as the parents of this husband and their arguments with their neighbors about unimportant things. In both cases, the people become so embroiled in winning that they lose sight of what is right and what is reasonable and it all occurs in stages.At times, the film just went too far with these arguments. For example, one neighbor couldn't find their cat so they assumed the neighbor killed it. So, they had the neighbor's dog euthanized, stuffed and left it on their doorstep. Some might laugh at this...I was just horrified. The acting was good and the film watchable but incredibly nasty and unpleasant.By the way, something extraordinary happened during this viewing at the Philadelphia Film Festival. One man in the audience was laughing uproariously throughout the film. His response was extreme and unusual to say the least. Well, it apparently really offended another guy in the theater and through the course of the film they began screaming at each other. At the finale, it got uglier and I rushed to get Film Society staff because it looked as if they'd come to blows!! So, obviously one guy thought this was a great dark comedy and one thought it was a drama and it was offensive for anyone to laugh at the hellish story. Amazing that neither apparently saw that they were acting out the picture!!

gudnh The humor is pitch black and the characters extremely serious. The movie is hilarious and depressed at the same time. The acting is good for the most part. There are a few scenes where you notice some mistakes but nothing that has a terrible effect on the movie over all. The cinematography was superb, a lot of cool shots that made the movie extra depressed. I was happy with the music choices as well, really put the nail in the coffin with this one.One happy Icelander after seeing this at the movies. Do recommend 8/10.Script is amazing.