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KITCHEN STORIES Send This Review to a Friend
Experiments can be strange, as is the product research inquiry that forms the basis for the plot of "Kitchen Stories," a satirical import from Norway. Representatives are sent from Sweden's Home Research Institute to a remote, frigid location in Norway to observe the lives of bachelors and report on findings with the goal of learning how to standardize kitchens. The visitors are not allowed to communicate with their subjects but must observe in silence and help shed light on the habits of single men.
Tomas Norstrom plays Folke, one such observer, but he runs into trouble at the outset. Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), a farmer who rues his decision to participate, doesn't want to be watched and refuses to let Folke into the house. Finally he relents, and Folke assumes his awkward perch on a high chair to peer at Isak's day to day routine in his kitchen.
The film, directed by Bent Hamer, is a sly comedy, sometimes too sly with the result of becoming a bit boring. But the progression is interesting, as the barrier between the men breaks down and a friendship develops without much dialogue between them. Folke's actions violate the barrier that is supposed to exist and exasperate his blustering supervisor.
You can take the film as a metaphor for the intrusions into our lives that destroy privacy and the absurdity of being slaves to product studies. But "Kitchen Stories" is also a sensitive look at two lonely men who are able to connect. The problem is that the story unfolds at a snail's pace. But the film is entertaining and rewarding on its terms for viewers who can relax with it. An IFC Films release.
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