It's the fifties and the Swedish Home Efficiency Institute (HFI) have successfully saved the housewife several thousand miles of unneccesary walking within their own kitchens, through careful rationalisation of the placement of household items. But now attention is focused on the single man and his kitchen needs. A small convoy of cars towing caravans approach the Swedish/Norwegian border. The cars swap lanes from left to right and carry on. Each caravan has a high 'umpire' type chair strapped to the roof. The HFI descend on a small town in Norway.
Folke (Tomas Norström) is one of HFI's observers. He is assigned to observe Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), a rather shy old farmer who regrets agreeing to the programme. He believes he is to receive a horse for his involvement which turns out to be a figurine. At first it takes several days of standing on a ladder trying to reason through a curtained bedroom window. Even Malmberg (Reine Brynolfsson) his boss is called along to stand at the top of the ladder. Eventually Isak capitulates and Folke is able to set-up. Neither party are meant to communicate with each other or interact. The observer living in the caravan.
Things are difficult at first. Isak seems to have shifted cooking facilities to his bedroom. He even drills a hole in the ceiling, above Folke's chair to see what he's writing. Folke stays professional but seems unhappy about the situation. A great scene is where the old man is crunching chocolate at the kitchen table and looks up to see Folke staring at him. He decides to turn the kitchen light off. There's some rustling in the dark and torchlight appears on Isak's face and we see Folke with the same expression with a spot light on his head.
Isak's horse is dying and on the same day he runs out of pipe tobbaco. The ice is broken in a wonderful moment, when Folke throws his pack down to the kitchen table. 'Time for coffee' announces Isak in reciprocation. A close friendship emerges which threatens Folke's job. Bent Hamer found Swedish post-war efficiency research the inspiration for this funny, original and often moving story. The casting is superb and the atmosphere authentic with muted colour grading. There are quirky moments including a shed full of pepper and a research director - Dr Ljungberg (Leif Andrée) who seems to be permanently flying around in a private aircraft with a party on-board. A highly satisfying film that is impossible not to enjoy. Original music by Hans Mathisen.
