Our first impression of Sven Nordin's Kjell Bjarne is that of an oaf whose interests in life seem limited to food and sex. Yet we quickly find out that there is more to him than Elling first suspects. There is a beautiful scene that takes place when they are both still inside the sanatorium. Elling had been regaling Kjell Bjarne (he's always referred to by both names) with tales of his sexual exploits and adventures around the world. When one of the therapists gives Elling shit for making up stories - letting Kjell Bjarne know that they never happened and leaving Elling devastated and desolate - Kjell Bjarne waits for her to leave and than leans over to his friend and asks him to keep telling him the stories because he likes them. There was a gentleness and compassion that Sven Nordin was able to communicate in the delivery of that line that somehow told Elling that Kjell Bjarne had known all along the stories were made up, but that it hadn't mattered then and it didn't matter now.

Of course Kjell Bjarne is more than just a friendly oaf, and is given to occasional violent outbursts. But as the outbursts are usually directed at himself and taken out on inanimate objects there is never any impression that he is a threat to anyone. They are most often the result of his frustration with his own inability to express emotions or to communicate with others. Of course on occasion Elling is the cause of his frustration as he's unable to understand that Elling might be jealous of Kjell Bjarne's burgeoning relationship with their upstairs neighbour.

There are three other characters of note in the movie; the upstairs neighbour, Reidun (Marit Pia Jacobsen), who Kjell Bjarne falls in love with; Alfons Jorgensen (Per Christensen), a poet who becomes Elling's mentor and friend; and the boys' social worker, Frank Asli (Jorgen Langhelle). Each of these characters serve as barometers of sorts for us to gauge how well the boys are actually doing in terms of their rehabilitation. What I found most interesting about the way the development of the relationships were depicted was how the obstacles faced by Elling and Kjell Bjarne in establishing their friendships were what you and I would experience in similar circumstances.

Who hasn't experienced the fear of not knowing what to say on a first date? Who hasn't felt insecurity when making a new friend? Wondering whether or not they like you or how to go about asking if they want to get together? Watching the two men go through those stages in the movie, it is easy to identify with what they are feeling, and almost as rewarding to experience their success as it would be our own in the same situation.