The film's director, Peter Naess, wrote that he didn't want to make a movie about psychiatry, which is why neither character has any particular diagnosis, but to examine the lives of two people who have no social experience and who nobody has ever given an opportunity to or had any faith in. His objective was to emphasize the possibilities and human qualities of the two men; to get beyond and behind the label of mental illness.

There's no question in my mind that he succeeded in his objective as the movie is first and foremost a wonderful depiction of the friendship between the two characters and the things they do to help each other. While we may on occasion laugh at their behaviour, the humour is never malicious or belittling. What Peter Naess and the actors in this movie have given us is less a movie about mental health, and more a movie about the joys and sadness of being human.

Elling is a wonderful movie, with beautiful acting, and a funny, genuinely heart-warming story. Don't let the fact that it's in Norwegian with English subtitles deter you from either renting or buying a copy of this on DVD. The subtitles are so well done that after the first couple of minutes of the movie you forget you're reading while watching, and can just get on with enjoying a good movie.