... Chased by One Norwegian." That immortal refrain was part of my Swedish-American childhood. What the taunters failed to grasp was that the Swedes were 10,000 beautiful maidens and the one Norwegian was a goatish bachelor farmer ...Yes, there is a tradition of mockery between Swedes and Norwegians, on both sides of the Atlantic, which sometimes slumps into animosity. "We" think we're easy to tell apart just by looking, but our languages are close enough so that we can converse ... with a few self-satisfied philological smirks on both sides. This film "Kitchen Stories" is acted out in both languages, but I suspect anglophones will be uncertain who is speaking what and when. The language mash-up is part of the fun, but only if you speak either Svenska or Norska. Another part of the fun is the time setting of the film, in the 1950s, not long before the Swedes converted their highways from left-lane driving to right-lane, a decision that was as controversial as conversion of 'kröner' to euros, which hasn't happened, or as conversion of miles to kilometers in the USA, which also hasn't happened... yet.And there's a subtle portrayal in this film of the most painful divergence of interests in 20th C Scandinavian history -- Sweden's neutrality in World War II, while Norway was occupied by the Nazis. That was a sore subject in both countries in the 1950s, the temporal setting of "Kitchen Stories". The delicate reticence of the two chief characters, one Swedish and one Norwegian, is another 'part of the fun' for a Scandinavian viewer, guaranteed to evoke an indulgent smile.A lot of the smiles and laughs of "Kitchen Stories" may be comprehensible only to Scandinavian viewers, especially those of us with bachelor-farmer uncles. I have one, a Swede who persists in dairy farming, heavily subsidized through a co-op, near Nyköping. The sly satire of 'natural characters' of this film will obviously be funnier for Scandinavians (and their nearest neighbors in Minneapolis) than for Gentiles. But I note that all the previous reviewers have been at least mildly amused, have 'gotten the jokes' despite their cultural specificity. Yes, the film is "SLOW" by Hollywood standards. It has to be, for our benefit. You know why you should never tell a Norwegian a joke on Thursday, don't you? Because he'll embarrass himself by laughing in church.It's a comedy, you betcha. A citified Swede is sent to 'observe' the kitchen activity of an elderly Norwegian farmer, who has volunteered for the research project in hopes of getting a horse to replace his dying 'old friend' in the stable. The gift horse turns out to be a Dalarna statuette of a horse, the ultimate Swedish folk-art knick-knack. Meanwhile, the farmer regrets his gesture. He hates to be 'observed' and studied. There's a broad rebuke buried in this humor, addressed to anthropologists and sociologists everywhere. Observation IS an indignity, and besides, just as in quantum physics, the presence of the observer always renders the observed uncertain.The farmer and the efficiency expert eventually must communicate, despite the protocol of the research that forbids human interaction. That's the story. It's a poignant "love story" in the end, though not with any sensationalist homoerotic implications. It's pure "agapé" rather than "eros". It's a tale of loneliness and friendship, and it's eventually quite touching, even if you don't get all the jokes. In fact, for me the ending became a tad too sentimental.One might compare this film to "Waking Ned Devine", also a story of two old geezers bonding in friendship. "Waking Ned Devine" is knee-slapping funny for any audience. "Kitchen Stories" is modest and intimate, with a cast of just four male principals and a couple of extras. But those actors are brilliantly convincing in their roles. Everything about this modest satirical/sentimental film is well done.