Kitchen stories - chroniques de cuisine

There's no avoiding it: "Kitchen Stories" is hopelessly boring. It is slow, uneventful, tacit, and wry. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. It also happens to be hilariously understated and brilliantly dry. It's motive is clear and straightforward, there are no surprises or twists, only the observation of two men: one who must observe, the other who must be observed. Of course, humans are not meant to be that way, and everything falls out of the way it is supposed to. The scientific study of single male's kitchen activities is carried out in high chairs strategically placed in the corner of the kitchen. But the observer, Folke, and the observed, Isak, form a friendship and a bond, quietly, and ever so slowly. There is a small twist at the end, but when you think about it, with all of the very small funny moments leading up to it (getting radio stations through a gold tooth, Isak eating dinner in his room instead of his kitchen), you realize at the end that everything is the way it should be. This movie is a small masterpiece, slow and dry, yet hilarious and perfect. This is a movie with no villains and no heroes, just regular people, eating in their kitchen. At the end, even though you may have looked at your watch a few times, you leave satisfied and with a silly little grin on your face.

My grade: 7.5/10

The summary of Salmer fra kjokkenet in imdb places the movie in the "feel good" genre. This may be true for UK citizens, however a swede really gets the shivers alongside with incontrollable laughs while watching this movie.

The horror derives from the fact that since the thirties the Swedish politicians seriously have believed that they were able to shape society with reason and logic. Thus in the movie, there is the "Institute of private homes research", the object being to develop the most logically structured kitchen, adapted to the average movements of the "normal" house wife.

This excellent movie made in Norway, the neighbouring country of Sweden - which up to 1905 was submitted in a state union with Sweden - makes a very convincing statement about the "swedish mentality", that is how our welfare state has developed during the past 70 years.

The growing relationship between the aging Norwegian farmer and the archetypical swedish bureaucrat Nilsson. Nilssons job is to observe his delinquent while he is performing the daily chores in the country kitchen, is moving and, I think, quite significant if you're interested in the nature of mankind - one of Nilssons colleagues comes at him with the a priceless line of speach: "How the f**k can one know anything about ones fellow man, if not speaking to him?" It needs to be said - the obeservators are strongly advised not to interfere with their "objects of research".

In other words; at one level of Salmer fra kjokkenet provides you with great laughs, if you recognize the type who's main interest is to grasp control of your behavior, of your life. At another level this is a painful, yes, raw settlement with the swedish "social engineering" so admired by foreigners, at least in the past.

I cannot think of any other movie more worth recommending to somebody who's interested in what mankind really is, and what caricature she can made into.

This is a movie about how to make friends when every other possibility is exhausted, how to talk man to man, when every way of communication i banned by the "authorities".

This film was a surprise since we went without any preconceptions, having avoided reading about it beforehand. It is a droll attempt at film making by Bent Hamer, the director, who collaborated on the scenario.

The film presents a story that on its surface seems to be one thing, but deep inside there is an ode to friendship between two different, but stoic Scandinavian men, Isak and Folke, whose lives become entwined as they discover how they are similar, despite of all appearances. The story is set in the bleak and snowy Norwegian winter.

In the end, Folke is a better man by having known Isak, the man who he doesn't understand at the beginning of the story, but who unknown to him, was always looking over him, without the other one knowing it.

The three principals are very well portrayed. This film will resonate with people that find themselves alone at the last stages of their lives, and how they are changed by opening up to perfect strangers who are going through the same thing themselves.

Imagine your job entails watching the habits of the people in their kitchens, their comings and goings: from the oven to the fridge, from the washing machine to the cupboard... How come? Well, let's say you're an employee of an enterprise that's looking forward to optimize the arrangement of people's houses to make their life more comfortable (???). You just sit there and watch your assigned "specimen". No talking, no communication between you and him. Now imagine you're the "specimen", and that there's a man sit on your kitchen observing your behavior!!!

Yeah, it's such a crazy plot, but it comes in handy for the director to express his message: man is a social creature and everybody needs someone sometime.

A small movie about small people, calm and intimate. It will make you snore by the second sequence if you're looking for some action... Otherwise, if you don't mind about contemplative cinema, this movie's gonna leave you a nice taste in your mouth.

*My rate: 7/10

When I picked up this DVD, I noticed two prominent words on the front--"Hilarious" and "Funny". After seeing the film, I think these are both completely inappropriate descriptions of the film. So, of course, some advertising idiots decided to promote this as a hilarious comedy, even though this did not appear to be the intention of those who made the movie! There are a few mildly funny moments, but it just isn't a comedy. Instead, it's a slight slice of life film about a Swedish company that prides itself on scientifically investigating EVERYTHING there is about kitchens. The story centers on one of their studies which is done with Norwegian bachelors. They decided to send observers into these kitchens and passively watch and record the movement patterns of these men. The observers and observed are under strict orders NOT to interact in any way.

This story centers on one home. At first, the bachelor doesn't want to even allow the observer in the home. Then, once he begrudgingly lets him in, their relationship is pretty tense. However, over time it is natural that a bond is created between them. The acting is good and the story generally pretty compelling. Not a bad little unusual film, but for some reason the writers decided to end the movie on a down note--I can understand the choice, but don't agree with it at all.