Elling Movie Review 2001

Witty, gentle comedy has two Noregian misfits, recently released from a mental institution, living together in a government-subsidized Oslo flat in order to learn how to live in the outside world. Elling, who had to be dragged from his mother's home when she died, is extremely agoraphobic, fastidious, and socially inept. His roomie Kjell Bjarne is a hulking man with no sense of personal hygiene and an overdeveloped sexual imagination. Their friendship helps them to slowly and amusingly adapt to, and enter, the world. This allows Kjell to befriend, and become romantic with, their pregnant upstairs neighbor, while Elling writes poetry (and slips it into saurkraut packages at the market), finally attends a reading, and meets fellow poet Alfons. Sentimental without being cloying.

Distribution

First Look Home Entertainment, 8000 Sunset Blvd., East Penthouse, Los Angeles, CA 90048, Phone: (323)337-1000, Fax: (323)337-1078, Email: info@firstlookmedia.com, URL: http://www.firstlookmedia.com, Remarks: A division of First Look Pictures

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 89 minutes.
Originally from Norwegian.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Sanity Check, Buddies, Mental Hospitals

Screenplay

Axel Hellstenius

Cast

Per Christian Ellefsen, Sven Nordin, Marit Pia Jacobsen, Jorgen Langhelle, Per Christensen

Cinematography

Svein Krovel

Director

Petter Naess

Music

Lars Lillo Stenberg

Other

Morten Solum, Inge-Lise Langfeldt, Haralds Egede Nissen, Aslaugh Konradsdottir

Producer

Dag Alveberg, First Look Pictures