Elling

Colour, 35mm
Norway, 2001, 89 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

After two years spent at a psychiatric hospital, the protagonist of the story, Elling, returns to the so-called real world. He and his roommate Kjell Bjarne are given a flat in Oslo to ease their way back into society. The pathologically shy and neurotic Elling, however, has had almost no experience with the world nor with life as an independent person. At first he is even too shy to use the telephone, and going to the market seems like a superhuman feat. But the threat of returning to the hospital is greater. So the sex-obsessed lummox Kjell Bjarne and the puny Elling set out on small adventures to the city where they soon find love and friends. Kjell Bjarne falls in love with a neighbour whom he finds drunk one day on the stairway. For his part, Elling has decided to become a famous, though anonymous poet by wrapping his verses in, yes . . . sauerkraut packaging. The movie is based on one of the most successful Norwegian novels of Ingvar Ambjornsen and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

About the director

Petter Naess (b. l96O, Oslo) originally worked as a writer, director and actor for the theatre. He has worked on staging 25 theatre productions and is also acknowledged for his work in television. He has directed the Oslo New Theatre since 1997, where he promotes contemporary Norwegian plays and focuses on works for young audiences. He staged Elling and Kjell Bjarne among other productions at the same theatre, a play which served as the basis for his second feature. He debuted as a filmmaker in 1999 with Absolute Hangover, which won Amanda Awards for Best Actor and Actress at the Norwegian IFF.