Kitchen Stories (2004)

*****SUPER SPOILER ALERT***** With respect to the allegedly ambiguous ending ... it's not ambiguous. There is mention of the pipe on the table at the end. But if you consult around 1:22 you will see two pipes on the table, not one.Lovely film, enjoyed it very much indeed. It is subtle and strangely moving. It's unfortunate that English speakers are missing such a lot; for example that Isak always speaks Norwegian and Folke, Swedish. They literally understand one another even though they don't speak one another's language. It's easy to see that there are a lot of layers to the dialogue and jokes, spare and minimal as these are.Highly recommended.

A film about scientific observation and how it affects researcher and research subject alike set in 1950s rural Norway hardly sounds a promising scenario, but you have to try out Salmer fra kjøkkenet / Kitchen Stories, which screened on Rialto Channel a few nights ago. It's the sort of movie Ingmar Bergman could have made if he had had a sense of humour instead of being the stereotypical dour Swede. It certainly had me on the floor with glee from the opening scene when a troop of identical looking caravan pulling cars cross the Norway-Sweden border where they had to change driving lanes (Sweden drove on the left of the road in the 1950s, while Norway did not) and one of the drivers was physically unwell from having to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. All part of a whole host of digs Scandinavians make at each other, like any neighbouring nationalities do, but it never turned malicious. The Swedish researchers going to observe Norwegian bachelor peasants in their ergonomic use of their kitchens had me slightly squirming in my seat, because it so horribly illustrated bad sociological or psychological research, where observers think they can just watch their subjects go about their lives without actually influencing the situation or behaviour. If it all sounds unpromising or esoteric as a comedy film, don't be disheartened, but try to catch it next time it's on. Scandinavian humour is very droll.

Picture sitting in a Psych 101 class, and being informed that part of your grade is to take a research survey. A graduate student plunks a stack of paper in front of you, and the first question asks whether you are Person Type A, Person Type B, or Person type C. Being person type R, this presents you with some difficulty. If that graduate student had watched Kitchen Stories, he would have realized that if you try to limit people into pre-determined roles, you sometimes end up missing some of the amazing things that they can do. This message is a playful gibe at social science research, but it opens up to be a much broader topic than you originally think. The characters in this movie, who are very different people, become wonderfully warm, lovable people by simply listening to one another. This is a message that our world might need to hear a lot more of. I'm not sure the casting could have been any better, as the two leads assume their personalities just so perfectly.

After watching this wonderfully original film, I could not help but ponder how in the world the writer managed to obtain the means for production, to put this story onto film. We are lucky those who read the script had the calm vision to see the genius. This is an absolute masterpiece of film making. As another member commented, many directors are afraid to allow the natural human pace to guide the energy of the film. Indeed, the tempo of the characters is core to the essence of the film and is truly educating. Everything works in this film, the dialogue the characters, the period. The movie reaches that special level of intelligence where it could easily come across boring, but every second keeps you captivated. And that is pure magic. The acting is impeccable and the dialogue utterly brilliant. This is a film that people will be watching hundreds of years from now. I give it a 10 out of 10, it is perfection.