A comedy masterpiece. Sometimes tragic but more often outrageously funny, this wonderful tale of two mentally challenged outcasts caught me fully unprepared.There wasn't a single face without a wide grin in the audience after this film. An amazing script, fantastic actors: this was the feel-good movie of 2001. 9 stars out of 10.In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites: imdb.com/list/ls070242495

Petter Naess's Elling (2001) delivers as a heartwarming coming of age comedy with a twist: the protagonist is not some teenager caught in the complexities of adolescence but a 40-year-old man caught in the complexities of basic daily living. The 40-year-old man is Elling (Per Christian Ellefsen), the winsome protagonist of this Oscar nominated film. Elling falls somewhere on the autism spectrum and lives a comfortable yet sheltered life until everything changes with the death of his mother and caretaker. Carted off by the Norwegian authorities when they find him distraught and huddling in his mother's closet, Elling ends up in an institution where he meets his roommate and partner in crime for the rest of the film, the lusty yet virginal Kjell Bjarne (Sven Nordin).All this plot is merely setup for the rest of the film and is communicated efficiently, though perhaps not elegantly, through a choppy sequence interspersed throughout the opening credits. The film manages to hit its stride when Elling and Kjell Bjarne venture out in the real world to live on their own in an apartment in Oslo. Prompted by their social worker Frank Asli (Jorgen Langhelle), the duo hesitantly takes on their newfound independence, navigating the familiar struggles of friendship, romance, and self-fulfillment in this well-paced crowd-pleaser.Right away Elling has trouble adjusting to his newfound independence. Explaining his troubles in an eloquent voice over, Elling says, "I've always had two enemies: dizziness and anxiety. They follow me wherever I go." This overwhelming anxiety is the root of Elling's resistance to participate in the everyday activities that Frank commands, like answering the phone, going to the grocery store, and generally venturing outside the apartment. After all, as Elling points out "Why have an apartment if we leave it all the time?!" Though many viewers may not share the fear of stepping foot outside their residences, Elling is downright relatable. This broad of appeal of the film is thanks in large part to Per Christian Ellefsen's excellent performance as the charming and nuanced Elling, a character not only tentative and bookish, but also funny, charming, and at times even grandiose.Ellefsen vivifies Elling with a nervous energy particularly apparent in a scene in which Elling and Kjell Bjarne have their first evening out alone at a local restaurant. Basking in the victory of their successful outing, Elling decides to give Frank a call to prove how well he and Kjell Bjarne are doing, but there's one problem: the phone is so far away and the path to it is so filled with people. Ellefson perfectly animates Elling's terror, moving with an inching, wooden walk and a furrowed brow that punctuates a wild stare. However, when Elling manages to reach the phone and make his first real phone call, Ellefson lights Elling's face with a glee just as intense as the terror.It would be misleading to praise Per Christian Ellefsen without also mentioning Sven Nordin's delightful turn as the lovable wannabe lothario, Kjell Bjarne. While Kjell Bjarne is initially much more easily motivated to risk the bustle of the outside world with the promise of women or food, he still craves the familiarity of institutionalized living. Accordingly, he and Elling decide to push their beds next to each other and turn their two-bedroom apartment into a one bedroom apartment equipped with a library/workshop. This sleeping situation becomes an important symbol of the quirky duo's codependent relationship and its eventual evolution into a rich friendship between two autonomous individuals.The friendship between Elling and Kjell Bjarne, and all of the growing pains it experiences, is another major theme in the film. Not only does the twosome's pairing provide rich source for comedy, but it also reveals the character progressions of Kjell Bjarne and Elling. Kjell Bjarne starts to drift from Elling's side as he becomes involved with the pregnant upstairs neighbor, Reidun (Marit Pia Jacobsen). Feeling the ever-so-slight sting of rejection, Elling decides it's time to have some adventures of his own, during which he meets a kindred spirit, retired poet Alfons Jørgensen (Per Christensen). Elling ponders incredulously in voice over, "Had I really made a friend without the help of the Norwegian government?" Indeed, he has, and more importantly, he reflects the basic human emotion of triumphant satisfaction, a feeling powerful in its universal relatability. It's the simple things in life, after all.Upon Elling's first solo outing, he dons shades and a trench coat, a superficial representation of his personal growth. However, by the closing of the film Elling no longer needs flashy new clothes to validate his transformation into a more fully self-actualized adult. The thematic relatability of the awkward process of growing up combined with the enigmatic acting by the main cast makes Elling's story one to empathize with, even if we aren't struggling with anxiety, experiencing our first apartment, or living in Norway. In the end, when he says of his new self, "Mama's boy, maybe, but a new dangerous version" we can't help but feel a twinge of pride not only for Elling, but also for ourselves.

A simple film of simple people with simple intentions, Elling (2001), a Petter Naess film, portrays a pair finding their way through the welfare state of Norway. An authentic focus on the lives of these two men with mental illness grabs sympathy from the audience as they watch the everyday struggles of Elling (Per Christian Ellefsen) and Kjell Bjarne (Sven Nordin). After living the majority of his life with his mother, her unexpected death cripples Elling and his psyche, and we see Elling being forced out of a closet he had been hiding in by the Norway welfare people for his own good will. Elling meets his roommate, Kjell Bjarne who obsesses over the sexy stories Elling tells him. Eventually, the pair find themselves living in a big city welfare apartment provided for them by the Norwegian government. It is here that they build a relationship with their social worker, Frank Asli (Jorgen Langhelle) as they try living day to day life.The topic of mental illness is central to this film, as the two main characters had the Norwegian government intervene in their lives because they were unsuitable to live on their own. Naess chooses to not include the actual diagnoses of each character because he felt that including a clinical diagnosis for each character would dehumanize them. This choice is extremely effective in translating a very likable nature behind the pair no matter their psychological differences. Although, Naess had good intentions of making the two very likable in spite of their mental illness, it also may translate to the audience that all people with mental illness are such simple, good natured, likable people that must be taken care of by their respective state governments. Nonetheless, the simplicity of these two characters definitely grab at the audiences' heartstrings.The character of Elling is a staunch Labour Party supporter and Gro Harlem Brundtland enthusiast which is a major theme throughout the film. Once the unlikely pair move into their government housing, Elling insists on putting an almost angelic photograph of Gro Harlem Brundtland (a major supporter of the welfare state in Norway) in a prominent spot on their dining area wall. Elling has idealized Gro Harlem Brundtland so much that he constantly reads about her and almost substitutes her for his mother and for those who are taking care of him. Such strong support by Elling for this Party can be seen in political disagreements that he has with his new friends at a cabin where he truly believes everything the Labour Party has done is right and true. The viewer may question if Elling clung to this idealism once he could no longer cling to his mother… What seems to draw Elling out of his neurotic rut is the opportunity for new friendship and even family. Kjell Bjarne, no matter how different he is in personality, and Elling demonstrate their friendship when giving each other gifts on Christmas. They both pick something that is truly perfectly inherent to the others personality and this moment is one of the most meaningful and precious of the entire movie, granted Kjell's present was a nude woman on a watch! Elling and Kjell Bjarne provide each other with exactly what each other needs to balance out, which seems to be why the pair is so successful in living on their own and really creating their own family.For such a simple pair of characters, Naess provides a simple amount of locations for scenes. A large amount of the film takes place in the government provided housing that Elling is afraid to leave. Once Elling begins to shed some of his anxieties, we see both Elling and Kjell Bjarne in different places with different people such as a poetry house, cabin, or friends' apartment. Simple cinematic techniques are used as well to compliment the simple characters. The use of voice-over provides extra detail if needed that may not be interpreted from a scene. Besides this technique, there seems to be no flashy devices like those in Hollywood that catch a viewers' attention. But rather, the viewer is able to focus on the characters and their likability and simplistic nature.The film, Elling (2001), is an uplifting story with authentic characters that develop through being forced into the "real world" essentially. There are no hidden things to get from this film, as it is upfront and simple and only wants to provide the story of an unlikely pair coming together to form their own family.

Elling a "momma's boy" is a middle-aged man who has been living with his mother his whole life until she dies. Elling goes crazy and becomes socially awkward and is forced to live in mental center. There he meets his roommate and long-time friend Kjell Bjarne who has a disorder where all he thinks about is women and sex. Eventually the end up being released from the mental hospital and are forced to live with each other. Every once in a while they have a social worker who checks in on them to see if they are capable of living on their own. They face many different obstacles in their time together along with overcoming their mental disabilities.Per Christian Ellefsen portrays Elling as a quiet, neat freak. I feel Elling has the most difficult adapting to daily life and the outside world. Having his character be a neat freak compels his disability. He is the probably the most difficult character to figure out, because you really don't ever understand what his emotions are. Although there are scenes where one may be able to understand his character, but I feel the director made it too difficult for viewers to understand whom Elling really was. Kjell Bjarne on the other hand is a man who is trying to break out of his element and reunite with the outside world. I feel the director made his character better noticeable because I feel his character was simpler. I'm still confused though why does he always insist on hitting his head on tables and pounding his fist on walls. One could say he is a very angry person, but I don't feel that at all. His love for his girlfriend abolishes this idea of him being angry.The main theme that I took from this movie was the idea of family. The idea of Elling and Kjell being together demonstrates how the director enhances this theme of family. Considering this is a Norwegian film and the value of nature is portrayed in many films does not seem to be an important theme for this movie. Most of the movie is filmed in a big city. I was expecting more scenes involving the aspects of nature to be enhanced in this movie. There is a scene where they all go to a cabin and this would contradict my previous statement, but this scene doesn't play a significant role in the movie.The movie is considered as a comedy and I would have to disagree. There were times where only a few times where I would laugh, but overall I wouldn't say it is a comedy. Maybe I don't have a sense of humor or maybe Norwegian comedies are different compared to American films, but I feel the movie was more considered as a drama rather than a comedy. Elling is supposed to be the main character and one would think if the movie was supposed to be a comedy, the main character would be the most funny. I believe Kjell is bar far the funniest actor just because he is a slob and doesn't know when to change his underwear. Elling to me is more serious all the time and even though his seriousness can sometimes to funny, in order for a movie to be considered as a comedy, the main character has to always be funny.Overall I really enjoyed the film, because I feel the message from the movie can be seen around the world. There are many different people who have difficulty associating them with the outside world. I myself have difficulty talking to complete strangers and this movie has made look at things differently. I also feel the location, lighting, etc. was very well used to enhance the director's purpose of the movie. I wouldn't say this was the best movie I have ever watched before which is why I only rated the movie and 8 out of 10. I wouldn't say this is the type of movie someone would want take a date too, but if someone wants to watch a movie on a rainy day and curl up on the couch, this would be a perfect movie for this situation.