Kitchen Stories
Charming, absurd Norwegian deadpan comedy about isolation and community
The culinary habits of single men in postwar Norway may not be high on the list of hot topics right now, but the droll, deadpan Kitchen Stories is, defiantly, irreverently, all about that. And it's hilarious - in a Scandinavian Sartre-esque sort of way. Kitchen Stories is matter-of-fact absurdism, with way-cool '50s design elements to boot. Directed by Bent Hamer, Kitchen Stories features Folke, a clipboard-and-stopwatch-toting envoy of Sweden's Home Research Institute, dispatched to the Nordic hinterlands to monitor the reluctant volunteer Isak (Joachim Calmeyer) as he brews coffee, tamps tobacco, cooks eggs. The deal is this: Under no circumstances is Folke allowed to communicate with Isak, nor is the researcher permitted to participate in any of the kitchen activities. Of course, rules are made to be broken, and the relationship that develops between Folke and Isak is the nub of the tale. A whimsical allegory about isolation, community, "scientific" research, and the odd things Norwegians put on their bread, Kitchen Stories is a thoroughly charming oddity. And, in the end, a moving one, too. Source: Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer.
Kitchen Stories
Sun October 17, 2004, 7:00 & 9:00, Muenzinger Auditorium
Norway/Sweden, 2003, in Norwegian and Swedish, Color, 95 min, not rated • official site
Tickets
10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission.
$7 w/UCB student ID,
$7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.
Parking
Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the
Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters
along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.
RTD Bus
Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus
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First Person Cinema
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Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.
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(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
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Celebrating Stan
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