Customer Reviews

Kitchen Stories (Original Swedish/ Norwegian Version with English Subtitles) Salmer fra kjøkkenet

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Here's a question for you. The movie's premise is that the company has done efficiency studies for the kitchens of housewives, but now they want to do one for the single bachelor. So we'll have some guy, and some other observer guy who isn't supposed to do anything but map what he sees. The question is, how long can you carry a film with that? And the answer is, very surprisingly, a full-length film of over 90 surprisingly enjoyable minutes. Insight, subtle humor, drama, wit. Like the title of my review says, it's quite excellent.