Movie No. 57 (2015): 1001 GRAMS
1001 Grams
Director: Bent Hamer
Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Stein Winge, Laurent Stocker
In Norwegian and French, with English subtitles
Marie works as researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Weights and Measures, where the delicate (Norwegian) prototype of a kilogram is kept. Her father, who is also a scientist in the same field, is supposed to attend an international seminar about the kilo, (to be) held at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France. However, due to bad health he can't. So, Marie takes his place instead and tags along with her the prototype, which must be handled with utmost care. Over some significant running time of the movie, Marie goes back and forth Norway and France, all the time the prototype with her. In this course, she meets a former researcher at the BIPM who does gardening and recording chirping of birds on his spare time. Then a minor accident happens putting the integrity of the prototype to risk.
Director: Bent Hamer
Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Stein Winge, Laurent Stocker
In Norwegian and French, with English subtitles
Marie works as researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Weights and Measures, where the delicate (Norwegian) prototype of a kilogram is kept. Her father, who is also a scientist in the same field, is supposed to attend an international seminar about the kilo, (to be) held at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France. However, due to bad health he can't. So, Marie takes his place instead and tags along with her the prototype, which must be handled with utmost care. Over some significant running time of the movie, Marie goes back and forth Norway and France, all the time the prototype with her. In this course, she meets a former researcher at the BIPM who does gardening and recording chirping of birds on his spare time. Then a minor accident happens putting the integrity of the prototype to risk.
Marie is depicted as a very neat person. Shots of the way she works, the way she deals with others (co-worker, father, friends, and new acquaintances), and where she lives are indication of her being composed. It appears everything she does is calculated: the frequency of her trips to her father's house, weighing her food, staying on just one side of the bed (suggesting she used to have someone sleeping beside her), etc. Realizing this makes me suggest that the prototype is a metaphor for obsession to references. What is the importance of weight to men? Marie, in one important scene, even quotes "Life's heaviest burden is to have nothing to carry." That question and Marie's quote seem to be the thesis of the movie.
The framing of the movie also appears calculated, reflective of the movie's theme. The cinematography is topnotch, one thing that's easily noticed. Ane Dahl Torp (as Marie) gives an excellent performance, using only her almost stoic face and body movements most of the time. I am almost convinced that even her movements are calculated (in a good way).
A movie of this kind is rare.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Date seen: October 19, 2015
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