neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Elling
	Petter Næss Per Christian Ellefsen, Sven Nordin, Marit Pia Jacobsen, Jørgen Langhelle 2001 In Norwegian; English subtitles.		So much for the myth of the dour Scandinavian. "Elling," a nominee for the 2001 "best foreign film" Oscar, is a nifty little comedy from Norway about the friendship between a pair of psychologically damaged child-men with opposite temperaments. Overseen by their harried social worker (Jørgen Langhelle), the fearfully anti-social Elling (Per Christian Ellefsen) and the voracious, sex-obsessed slob Kjell Bjarne (Sven Nordin) leave the sanitarium to live as roommates in a state-subsidized Oslo apartment. But it's no easy task for these two middle-aged neurotics to get along without daily supervision after living in a mental hospital. Despite his unease in public situations, Elling decides that he is going to make a splash as a poet. And noisy, overbearing Kjell Bjarne is determined to find a woman to love. Their individual quests and their touching resolve to stay friends manage to generate laughs without being sugary. With Marit Pia Jacobsen as the neighbor who catches Kjell Bjarne's fancy.