Product Details

• Actors: Joachim Calmeyer, Tomas Norström, Bjorn Floberg, Reine Brynolfsson, Sverre Anker Ousdal
• Directors: Bent Hamer
• Format: Import, Widescreen, Subtitled, NTSC, DVD
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000639N3Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,520 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

In post war Sweden it was discovered that every year, an average housewife walks the equivalent number of miles as the distance between Stockholm and Congo, while preparing her family meals. So the Home Research Institute sent out eighteen observers to a rural district of Norway to map out the kitchen routines of single men. The researchers were on twenty-four-hour call, and sat in special strategically placed chairs in each kitchen. Furthermore, under no circumstances were the researchers to be spoken to, or included in the kitchen activities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!, December 6, 2004

By 

G. Hargadon "Hargo" (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kitchen Stories (Original Swedish/ Norwegian Version with English Subtitles) Salmer fra kjøkkenet (DVD)

I caught this film at the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA, in February 2004. I went on the recommendation of a friend on pure blind faith... not knowing anything about what it was about. I recommend you do the same: this is simply one of the best films of the past five years that nobody I know has seen -- or heard of. For some reason the DVD is ridiculously expensive compared with others, but the value is definitely there.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little kooky, but good, March 14, 2005

By 

Jason Patterson (Cleveland, OH, United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kitchen Stories (Original Swedish/ Norwegian Version with English Subtitles) Salmer fra kjøkkenet (DVD)

This is a mildly bizarre story of a sociological study gone awry. You can find a more complete plot synopsis elsewhere...

It is wonderful film; it's funny, sad, and more than a little strange from beginning to end. I would highly recommend it for lovers of unusual foreign films

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An appealing relief from Hollywood junk, March 6, 2007

By 

John "john" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kitchen Stories (Original Swedish/ Norwegian Version with English Subtitles) Salmer fra kjøkkenet (DVD)

This is a film about the friendship that develops between two lonely bachelors in 1950s rural Norway. One is a reseacher assigned to study the kitchen habits (why, I don't know) of Norwegian bachelor farmers. He is not supposed to talk or communicate in any way with his subject, the farmer, but eventually he does and thus begins the friendship.

The movie is full of subtle humor (the premise of studying kitchen habits is rather silly to begin with) and proceeds at a peaceful pace that allows the humor to (I can't think of a better word) resonate. There are a couple of memorable images (one is a shot of a wet horse) and a few of the Norwegian countryside.

You will probably like this film if you are insulted by most Hollywood productions (as I am.) No tough guys with guns, no T&A, no exaggerated facial expressions: just a story about a sane friendship with a very unpredictable ending.