A scene from 1001 Grams.
"A man with one watch knows what time it is, a man with two watches is never quite sure." Oh, that old chestnut!
In his character study 1001 Grams, Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer follows scientist Marie and the orderly patterns of her briskly efficient routine (she verifies and enforces standard measure controls). The keeper of the country's prototype kilogram lives a rather joyless existence until it's repeatedly disrupted by chance and serendipity – an ailing father, a car accident, a dented prototype and a kilo seminar in France, where she meets a bohemian physicist named Pi. The international meeting in Paris provides fertile ground for observations about life via the subculture of this unusual community, one who has heated discussions about weight reference points, stability and precision as they apply to world politics (or for Hamer in Marie's case, life and love).
Despite the heavy metaphors Hamer's themes mostly manage not to be trite thanks to Dahl Torp's understated lead performance and the light touch of offbeat humour. The cinematography is crisply beautiful and balanced, deliberate compositions with occasional visual wit too – like the gathered scientists trundling with precious cargo under umbrellas to pose for a group convention photo. It's a tightly controlled, enjoyable quirk.