Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Ken Rudolph on Letterboxd

  This comic drama pokes gentle fun at the lengths countries go to to protect their sacred platinum/iridium exemplars of the kilogram. This film specifically is about how the Norwegian ingot compares with the original kilogram which is stored in Paris. The film tells the story of a young woman thrust into the position of representing her country at the annual kilogram convention when her father is unable to serve, and how she falls for a Parisian professor. Director Bent Hamer has a deliciously ironic style, smart and funny.

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  ★★★★ review by Tom Morton on Letterboxd

  30 Countries 2017: Norway

  I had another Norwegian film picked out for this challenge, but then I realised it was the perfect excuse to finally import a copy of this film from my favourite Norwegian director, since it's apparently never going to get a proper release in this stupid country. It was an excellent decision!

  I love Bent Hamer's films. They all seem to revolve around slightly broken, lonely people; often they've spent their whole life in a repetitive pattern and are somewhat surprised to be shaken out of it. The premise of this one - a Norwegian woman takes Norway's "official kilogram" to a convention in Paris - is so blissfully, delightfully boring and odd at the same time, and the film is much the same. Ane Dahl Torp is perfect in the lead role, so melancholy but likeable too, and like the other Hamer films I've seen, it's beautifully lit.

  It might not quite reach the peaks of Hamer's masterpiece (and a strong contender for my favourite film of all time), O'Horten, but there aren't many films that can capture this weirdly relaxing, oddly uplifting kind of sadness, and it's wonderful to have another one out there in the world.

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  ★★★★ review by Tina on Letterboxd

  I love how very scandinavian this movie is. The characters seem pretty aloof and silent at first; but the longer and closer you look at them the warmer their personalities get. I'm always fascinated by how these movies are so cold but so warm at the same time. And also very ironic and awkward.

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  ★★★★ review by Harvey Manfrenjensenden on Letterboxd

  A confident and understated investigation of loneliness. Not for everyone, but I found it to be a hypnotic and masterful.

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  ★★★★ review by Matty Stanfield on Letterboxd

  Pound per pound, stone for stone, kilo for kilo -- Bent Hamer's "1000 Grams" is an exceptionally balanced study of humanity.

  Like the film, Ane Dahl Torp's performance is brilliantly nuanced and touching.

  A film that makes you feel good without feeling that you have had to lower your IQ to enjoy the pleasure.

  There is some magic in this measurement.

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