Marie is a scientist who works at the Norwegian Bureau of Weights and Measures, where her father is the director. When her father falls ill, she is chosen to bear the great responsibility of hand-carrying an object known as the Norwegian National Kilo to Paris for a seminar at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, where a couple dozen representatives of various countries come to have their national kilos weighed against “the mother of all kilograms” and to discuss “weighty” matters.
Marie’s well-controlled life is unraveling because her marriage has fallen apart and her beloved father is dying. While in Paris she meets Pi, a scientist who has chosen to work as a gardener instead and to fill his free time recording bird sounds. Inevitably the two fall in love.
1001 Grams has been criticized for being needlessly slow-paced and I get it. The pace is not exactly glacial, but more like a post-global warming version of glacial. But it’s only 93 minutes long. I liked the film’s dry humor, and I particularly liked the ending, wherein Marie and Pi apply their measurement expertise to lovemaking.
