''Elling'' is a Norwegian

Black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

film directed by

Petter Næss Petter Næss (born 14 March 1960 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian actor and film director. His first film as a director was the comedy ''Absolutt blåmandag'' in 1999. Næss is best known for his work directing two of the three films about Ingvar ...

. Shot mostly in and around the Norwegian capital

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, the film, which was released in 2001, is primarily based on

Ingvar Ambjørnsen Ingvar Even Ambjørnsen-Haefs (born 20 May 1956) is a Norwegian writer. He is best known for his "Elling" tetralogy: ''Utsikt til paradiset'' (1993), ''Fugledansen'' (1995), ''Brødre i blodet'' (1996), and ''Elsk meg i morgen'' (1999). ''Brødr ...

's novel ''Brødre i blodet'' ("Blood brothers", 1996), one of a series of four featuring the Elling character – the others are ''Utsikt til paradiset'' ("A view of paradise", 1993), ''Fugledansen'' ("The bird dance", 1995), and ''Elsk meg i morgen'' ("Love me tomorrow", 1999). The film was followed by an original prequel not based on any of the novels, ''Mors Elling'' (2003), and a sequel, ''Elsk meg i morgen'' (2005) based on the fourth and last book in the series.

Plot

The movie deals with the main character, Elling, a man with generalized anxiety in his 40s, and his struggle to function normally in society. He suffers from anxiety, dizziness, and neurotic tendencies, preventing him from living on his own. Elling has lived with his mother for his entire life, and when his mother dies, the authorities take him from the apartment where he has always lived and send him to an institution. His roommate is the simpleminded, sex-obsessed Kjell Bjarne. The Norwegian government pays for the two to move into an apartment in Oslo, where every day is a challenge as they must prove they can get out into the real world and lead relatively normal lives. With the help of social worker Frank and a few new friends, they learn to break free from their respective conditions. Elling eventually discovers a new vocation as a rebel poet, as Kjell befriends a pregnant woman with a drink problem which finally becomes a romance. The film ends with both men as firm friends, embarking on new lives filled with hope.

Cast

*Elling — (

Per Christian Ellefsen Per Christian Ellefsen (born 14 February 1954) is a Norwegian actor, mostly known from his roles in ''Elling'' and ''Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale''. He became a star in Norway because of his title role of Elling (2001) after more than 20 years ...

) *Kjell Bjarne — (

Sven Nordin Sven Audun Nordin (born 6 February 1957 in Oslo) is a Norwegian actor. He was hired by Oslo Nye Teater in the autumn of 1981 and had his debut in the play "Vikinger" by Johan Borgen. He is best known for his roles as Nils in the situation comedy ...

) *Reidun Nordsletten — ( Marit Pia Jacobsen) *Frank Åsli — (

Jørgen Langhelle Jørgen Langhelle (18 August 1965 – 3 August 2021) was a Norwegian actor of stage, screen and television. Biography Langhelle starred in the two successful Norwegian mini-series Deadline Torp (2005) and ''Torpedo'' (2007), as well as in mov ...

) *Alfons Jørgensen — (

Per Christensen Per Christensen (18 July 1934 – 26 August 2009) was a Norwegian actor. His film credits include ''Elling'', ''Hotel Cæsar'', ''The Warrior's Heart'', and ''The Passionate Demons''. Selected filmography * 1957: ''Slalåm under himmelen'' * 195 ...

) *Gunn — ( Hilde Olausson) *Hauger — (

Ola Otnes Ola Otnes (born 2 September 1951 in Rendalen, Hedmark) is a Norwegian actor who has been active on screen since the 1970s. He was born in Rendalen. He was employed at Den Nationale Scene from 1978 to 1989, then at Teater Ibsen. On screen he has ma ...

) *Johanne — (

Eli Anne Linnestad Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

) *Cecilie Kornes — ( Cecilie A. Mosli) *Haakon Willum — (

Joachim Rafaelsen Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

) *Eriksen — ( Per Gørvell) *Servitør på bar — ( Knud Dahl) *Stasjonsbetjent — ( Knut Haugmark)

Reception

Critical response

''Elling'' has an approval rating of 85% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 59 reviews, and an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Quirky without being overly cutesy, ''Elling'' is a gentle, warm comedy".

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office

It was the most popular Norwegian film of the year with admissions of 750,000.

Awards

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

— Nominated (2002) * Amanda Awards (

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

): Best Actor (

) — Nominated (2001) In addition, the film was nominated and won several other awards all over the world.

References

External links

* * * * 2001 films 2000s Norwegian-language films 2001 comedy-drama films Films based on Norwegian novels Films directed by Petter Næss Films set in Norway Films shot in Norway 2001 in Norwegian cinema 2001 comedy films 2001 drama films Norwegian comedy-drama films {{Norway-film-stub