Kitchen Stories
Bent Hamer's charming tale of an unlikely friendship between a solitary old man and the supposedly neutral scientific observer sent to record the domestic details of his life.
In post war Sweden it was discovered that every year, an average housewife walks the equivalent number of miles as the distance between Stockholm and Congo, while preparing her family meals. So the Home Research Institute sent out eighteen observers to a rural district of Norway to map out the kitchen routines of single men. The researchers were on twenty-four-hour call, and sat in special strategically placed chairs in each kitchen. Furthermore, under no circumstances were the researchers to be spoken to, or included in the kitchen activities.
Certificate: PG
Key cast / credits: Dir Bent Hamer
Cast: Joachim Calmeyer, Tomas Norström, Bjørn Floberg, Reine Brynolfsson
Running time: 95 mins
Release date: January 2004 (UK)
Country: Norway / Sweden
Language: Norwegian / Swedish
Format available: 35mm/digi
"a perfect respite from the action flick mentality" Kevin John Bozelka, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"sly comic sensibility" Tom Dawson, BBC