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Kitchen Stories
IFC Films


8.3

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Factotum

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Joachim Calmeyer, Tomas Norström, Bjørn Floberg, Reine Brynolfsson, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Leif Andrée, Gard B. Eidsvold, and Lennart Jähkel

In the early '50s the Home Research Institute in Sweden sends 18 observers to the rural district of Landstad, Norway, with its surplus of bachelors, to study the kitchen routines of single men. (IFC Films)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Jörgen Bergmark Bent Hamer
DIRECTED BY:	Bent Hamer
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 14, 2004 Theatrical: February 20, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	92 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Norway / Sweden
LANGUAGE(S):	Norwegian / Swedish (with English subtitles)

Original title "Salmer fra Kjøkkenet"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

There's nothing casual about the way this film has been put together, yet that painstaking care leads to laughter that is completely unrestrained.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Features an absurdist sensibility that ultimately melts your heart. It's certainly one of the stranger movies you'll see.

Premiere Peter Debruge

In the end, it's not the answer to the kitchen mystery that matters but the revelation that there's ultimately no difference between this bachelor scientist and his bachelor subject.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Serves to champion human irrepressibility and unpredictability. It's the flip side to the defeatism of "Distant," but with parallels, both in the very deliberate pacing and moments of visual wit.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a film that triumphs in small ways and satisfyingly demonstrates how our human nature is based on both the eccentricity of our hearts and the quirky workings of our heads.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

If you're in the mood for a quiet, beautifully acted little drama, liberally spiked with comedy, about the universal desires of the human heart, this may be the obscure gem you're looking for.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Settle into your seat for an enjoyable movie.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

May, at times, be deadpan to the point of stiffness, but it's far from dead.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Folke and Isak have nowhere near the dimensions of the pair in "Waiting for Godot" or in "Endgame," but on his level, Hamer follows Beckett's belief that, especially in an odd situation, two can make a multitude.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

His painstakingly coordinated scenes and exquisitely timed takes are the filmmaking equivalent of wringing every single use from a paper towel and then folding it before disposal.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Some comedies make you laugh out loud. This one makes you smile inwardly, but often.

Film Threat D. W. Smith

Like all good films, it raises these types of questions, answering some, and leaving some for you to answer yourself.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

In the wonderfully droll Kitchen Stories, Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer takes an already inspired premise and weaves it into a spry absurdist comedy that also manages to find some considerable warmth.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

The film is saying that, left to their own devices, all men would devolve into a morass of monastic grouches. Kitchen Stories is a prime piece of comic anthropology.

Newsweek David Ansen

Hamer, a meticulous observer himself, is a minimalist with heart.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

In the landscape of contemporary movie comedies, Kitchen Stories is like a rejuvenating blast of crisp Nordic air.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Acted and directed with a savvy understatement that perfectly matches the eccentric story.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Mostly a well-acted, expertly directed comedy with characters and situations of truly universal appeal.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

The film pays off eventually with a lovely story of friendship between two lonely men.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's a simple story told well, with plenty of lighthearted moments and kernels of thought-provoking material, but little to really excite the cinematic appetite.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The movie's gentle humor and offbeat whimsy prove that humanity trumps bureaucratic foolishness, in Norway or anywhere else.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's hilarious - in a Scandinavian Sartre-esque sort of way.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

The film's concept is so absurd and Hamer goes about developing it with such a regimented structure that you have to believe that the filmmaker is poking fun at himself and the world he knows well.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The humor is a bit dry for my taste, but director Bent Hamer and his actors know what they're doing every step of the way.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Hamer perfectly captures that post-WWII spirit of better living through science by positioning streamlined Swedish cars and hump-backed trailers against the timeless Norwegian landscape.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Seems too subtle at times and too obvious at others, but Hamer strings together pieces of conversation and layers of voyeurism (everybody in the movie is watching somebody) into a moving study of the perils of presumption.

Time Richard Schickel

What a pleasure it is not to be hectored by a director as we laugh our own little laughs, watching a profound story unfold.

Variety David Rooney

The film appears consistently poised to go deeper but instead hangs back, making it less substantial than it might have been. Yet the sweet-natured story's gentle humor and poignancy should draw appreciative audiences.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The icy whimsy of Kitchen Stories is certainly well sustained, but you don't laugh at the movie so much as wait for the joke to thaw.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

An enjoyable study of ridiculous regimentation and a sure balm to anyone who has overdosed on the efficient designs at Ikea.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

By the end, Hamer's crisp, prickly compositions go soft.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

If you've ever staggered out of IKEA oppressed by the clean, inhuman lines of a thousand affordable dinette sets, you may get a kick out of Bent Hamer's comedy Kitchen Stories.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Slight but sardonic, Norwegian director Bent Hamer's deadpan Kitchen Stories makes a taciturn comedy of nothingness out of color-coordinated '50s coziness and Scandinavian social planning.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nacho G. gave it an8:
Beautiful, moving, humble picture. A real joy to watch!

Jao gave it an8:
Probably the best movie about friendship I've seen since Breakfast Club. Please don't think this is like Breakfast Club at all, in fact in no way are the two alike. You do get the same feeling from both, where there is hope in anyone at anytime to bring you happiness in a time when you least expect it. Add a well written script and Kitchen Stories will leave you with a smile.

Jonathan S. gave it a10:
A gentle, beautiful film about the development of a friendship.

Sally D. gave it a9:
I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. The gradual shift in the relationship between the men was intelligent and very believable. The subtle theme of Norwegian-Swedish relations after the war added richness and complexity to the film. I have visited Norway and am aware that the resentment of the Norwegians towards the Swedes persisits to this day so it's interesting that this was addressed in such an understated but powerful way in this film. My take on the character of Folke was that he felt guiltyabout Sweden's neutrality which might explain his getting sick shortly after they crossed the border. It is also telling that he chose to move into Isak's house in Norway at the end of the film. Despite this serious theme however, I was delighted by the comic scenes in the film and laughed more than I do at many so-called comedies. The humor is gentle and, while it is poking fun at the "positivism" of the domestic engineering scientists, it is not at the expense of any individual character. While I felt initially put off by the gray presence of Folke that pretty quickly turned into sympathy for his impossible observing job from that absurd chair. Both the superb writing and acting managed to convey the quirky humanness of every character. Overall, Ithought this was one of the best films I have seen in a long time. It's the kind of film that I expect will stay with me for a long time and one I will be sure to pass on to friends and family.

Mank gave it a 10:
It's enough to jolly anyone out of a black mood. a really warm, lovely gem of a film - the best one i saw at the Melbourne International Film Festival, i think.

Cameron S. gave it a 7:
A comic examination about two grown men bonding.

Seth F. gave it a 9:
Very funny yet poignant.

Kitchen Stories IFC Films

Kitchen Stories
IFC Films