KITCHEN STORIES (2003)

Cast

Plot

It's the early 1950's and members of the Swedish Home Research Unit are dispatched to far flung corners of the Norwegian hinterland to observe the behavioural patterns of single men in their kitchens. Poor unfortunate Nilsson is one such watcher, perched on a ludicrously outsized baby chair observing the initially absent domestic routines of his hostile host, Isak. It is only the intense proximity of the two men that slowly thaws a relationship originally based on fear, suspicion and animosity, and as the dialogue begins to flow, a delightfully dry and perceptive tale unfolds. The Kitchen Stories is an idiosyncratic gem, beautifully observed with both wit and pathos, perfectly complemented by a visual style that manages the unlikely combination of striking yet mundane.