A bittersweet fable from writer-director Bent Hamer, Kitchen Stories charts the unlikely friendship which develops between two emotionally reticent men in 50s Norway. Middle-aged Swedish scientist Folke (Tomas Norström) arrives in the isolated town of Landstad, where he's been assigned to monitor the kitchen routines of elderly farmer Isak (Joachim Calmeyer). Already selected as Norway's 2004 Oscar candidate, this shrewdly observed film may not boast star names but it will appeal to those who appreciate deadpan humour and emotional understatement.
What particularly impresses about Kitchen Stories is the care and patience with which Hamer tells his unusual story. We witness the scientific convoy of cars and egg-shaped caravans pitching up in a remote community. We're introduced to the mechanics of the research: an observer sits in an umpire-style chair in the subject's house, and monitors their movements.
Any fraternisation between participants is discouraged by an officious supervisor, Malmberg (Reine Brynolfsson). And then we watch the gradual process whereby Folke and Isak, neither of them great talkers, forge a mutual understanding, much to the dismay of Isak's troubled neighbour Grant (Bjørn Floberg).
"SLY COMIC SENSIBILITY"
Doubtless any Hollywood remake will seek to sex up this raw material, perhaps by throwing in a young female love interest and by upping the narrative tempo. Hamer, however, never loses sight of the fact that this slow-burner is all about our need for friendship and connection, demonstrating how human feelings can get in the way of a supposedly neutral scientific investigation.
Richly photographed by cinematographer Philip Øgaard, and infused with a sly comic sensibility, the film also benefits from the fine lead performances of both Norström and Calmeyer. Above all, it never patronises its characters in the quest for cheap laughs, treating them instead with commendable compassion.
In Norwegian with English subtitles.
Kitchen Stories (Salmer Fra Kjøkkenet) (2004)
