O’Horten

There is a genre of film that has no real plot, and enchants merely from the small and usually odd details of life. Americans are not usually very good at this sort of thing, they are usually from somewhere else. One of our favorites of this type of movie is Kitchen Stories, by the same man who directed this one. This one isn’t as funny as that one, and frankly, you will not roar with laughter in either of them, but I recommend both of them to people who don’t demand a lot of fireworks in their movies. In this one, a man is retiring after 40 years as a train engineer. He is at loose ends. He bounces from one odd situation to another, and there is no real resolution … and yet it is highly satisfying. Typical image from this movie: A man in a business suit, holding a briefcase, sitting on his butt and sliding down an icy street, solemn as can be. No explanation for it, no reason, just an image that slides by and is gone. You just have to smile.