Customer Reviews

Kitchen Privileges

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

 

 

I saw this at a film festival and it is not a horror movie but a real gem that artfully combines suspense and romance with a sensitive portrayal of the effects of psychological trauma. Once you get past the slow beginning, it is a character driven movie, and the director's tight shooting keeps it going at a fast pace that gets your heart racing. Contains excellent early work by Peter Saarsgard. If you like early Polanski, check this out!

"Kitchen Privileges" is a movie that was actually filmed in my home located in the View Park section of Los Angeles, California. The director did an excellent job of selecting a cast that worked well together in presenting the story of a young woman struggling with a mental illness. The traumatic event of being raped triggers a "fear of the market place" with auditory and hallucinations that are brought under control by her affection for a young man that rents a room in her home. Very well done but poorly publicised. Frank Turner III

This movie is a taut psychological thriller that is brilliantly directed by Mari Kornhauser. The ending will not be what you expect. As the earlier reviewer said, it's really about trauma, but more importantly about the difficulty of relationship in a world where trauma has become the normal situation. I don't want to give anything away, but there is a subtle but significant Catholic slant to this movie, which seems appropriate to its New Orleans location. You don't see much of New Orleans because the camera mostly explores interior psychological space, but somehow Kornhauser's visual language brings the feeling of New Orleans into this confined world. Kornhauser's direction owes something to Polanski maybe but also to De Palma without any of the over-the-top violence. A movie not to be missed! Oh yeah, Peter Sarsgard is good too in one of his early roles, along with Wressnig and the too-rarely-seen Irish actress, Angeline Ball (Imelda Quirke in THE COMMITMENTS). But the star of this movie is Kornhauser.

There is psychological tension in this movie because things happen under the surface, particularly in the performance of Peter Sarsgaard. Although we know there's something dark and troubling about Tom (Sarsgaard's character), there is also his attachment and care for Marie. There is identification, companionship and love; counterweighed against suspicions. The movie itself has a paranoid feeling -- very reflective of the kind of life the character Marie is living. Through the movie we are given the feeling of not being sure who to trust; not feeling anyone can be trusted. Our heads tell us one thing and our hearts another.

The movie is slow, especially in the beginning. (but for people who automatically think slow pace is negative, it isn't always so. For those who enter the undercurrent of the movie and give it time and attention, there's a payoff to it, much of which is in Sarsgaard's performance)

This movie had unfortunate marketing. The cover art of the DVD, and the genre -- horror -- does not fit. No blood, gore, or scares. People who would like the movie might not give it a chance, because they don't like horror films. Horror fans probably won't like it at all...well, because it isn't a horror movie.

This is a great psychological thriller. It is a dark film with obvious roots in New Orleans. I believe Mari Kornhauser is a fine director, writer and ever one should give this movie a look.

THE STRONGEST PLUS FOR THIS FILM IS THE UNDERSTATED AND EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE FROM A YOUNG PETER SARSGAARD, A VERY COMPETENT ACTOR WHO ASSUMES COMPLEX CHARACTERS QUITE CONVINCINGLY. HIS CO-STAR, HOWEVER, KATHARINA WESSNIG ISN'T N HIS LEAGUE..A STRONGER ACTRESS IN THIS PIVOTAL ROLE MAY HAVE ELEVATED THE FILM'S EFFECTIVENESS. THE FILM HAS AN EERIE ATMOSPHERE, BUT ITS AMBIGUITY AND ENIGMATIC RESOLUTION LEFT ME WANTING SOMETHING MORE.