Factotum | DVD Review

Just like Charles Bukowski’s body of work should be recommended reading for that misanthropist in your family, Bent Hamer’s newest picker-upper is recommended watching for anyone who ever had to punch a card to get a paycheck.

Preemed in Norway and at Cannes and several fests around the world, this title got tossed around domestically – perhaps as the black sheep among comedies for 05’, Picturehouse might have had difficulty in finding a marketing strategy for the pic and thus let the time lapse until IFC Films gladly took over. Opening to mixed reviews – some felt it was right on the money, citing deadbeat Matt Dillon as the ideal fixture for such a character and plenty of applause was given to Lili Taylor’s take of a trashed up, washed up, drunken girlfriend along for the ride. The opposition felt it didn’t do justice to Bukowki’s interpretation or that it simply drowned in its self-loathing but either way, Hamer matches Bukowski’s talent for pointing the obvious – a cynical world littered with a culmination of scenes that demonstrate the sheer stupidity and crass of our nihilistic anti-hero.

Very much part of the family of Scandinavian filmmakers with a distinct, artic cold sense of humor, it is almost impossible to not mention Kaurismaki when referring to both the style and tone in Hamer’s work. Kitchen Stories was perhaps a kinder film, but it also points at the trivial and mundane. Memorable scenes worth revisiting are Chinaski’s verbal exchanges with potential employers – both at the hiring and firing stages and the classic scenes that are reason for giving out his walking papers. For fans of Dillon, the sparse narration evokes Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy.

Co-written by Stark and Hamer, the screenplay visits some dark places but the jokes are a plenty – empty spaces in dialogue sometimes have a way of making a sequence that much more sardonic.

Extras are slim here. The only extra worth mentioning is:

The Making of Factotum: This is a Scandinavian-produced 30 minute capsule part of a documentary television series on Nordic filmmakers – so much of the focus here is on Bent Hamer on not entirely on the filming of Factotum. This Q and A styled interview commences with Hamer’s claim to fame – Kitchen Stories and then we get a crash course on his other films – Eggs (1995) and One More Day in the Sun (1998). Prior to an on camera interview picnic-style in Hamer’s backyard, the first portion of the interview is set up in the same car that was used in the shooting of his 2001 film. The filmmaker discusses his body of work, and then gets shifted to the set of his Minneapolis-shot 2005 feature. Hamer claims he likes the city because it is a place “with soul”. Producer Jim Stark discusses how the project came about (it was Hamer’s idea to tackle this Bukowski book) and cast members Dillon and Tomei have a couple of interviews segued into the feature. On a sad note, we can a brief glimpse of Adrienne Shelly – who is getting into her part before they yell quiet on the set. More importantly we witness how the friendly Norwegian director knows what he wants out of the shot – his smile and enthusiasm describe a good well done.

With a great look and a jazz score inspired by the late author’s work, this should be something worth watching when you’re looking for an mixture of offbeat and downbeat.

Movie rating – 3.5

Disc Rating – 3