Josh Hartnett & Radha Mitchell in "Mozart and the Whale", Intelligence and Behaviour

"Mozart and the Whale" (2005): A love story between two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose conditions sabotage their budding relationship. Director: Petter Næss, Writer: Ronald Bass, Stars: Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell, John Carroll Lynch and Gary Cole

Radha Mitchell and Josh Hartnett as Isabella and Donald in "Mozart and the Whale" (2005) directed by Petter Næss

'Mozart and The Whale' is the type of movie where an intense subject is broached, and the audience gets to experience a different kind of relationship movie. Centrally, the two main characters suffer from Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of Autism that differs from some better-known variations. With Asperger's, intelligence generally remains constant (or inflated), but there exists extreme deficiencies in social and communication skills. It is evident from the start of the film that the characters have a tough time "fitting in", and it becomes quite apparent that they are on their own for the most part.

Both Hartnett and Mitchell are exemplary in depicting their characters, and the story doesn't throw any flashy sequences or special effects into it to mess up the subtleties of the writing. I think in that regard the story really succeeds in conveying how difficult their relationship is, and just how hard they each have to work at something to make it succeed. Source: www.epinions.com

"Our intelligence and behaviour requires optimal functioning of a large number of genes, which requires enormous evolutionary pressures to maintain. Now, in a provocative theory, a team from Stanford University claim we are losing our intellectual and emotional capabilities because the intricate web of genes which endows us with our brain power is particularly vulnerable to mutations - and these mutations are not being selected against our modern society because we no longer need intelligence to survive. But we shouldn't lose any sleep over our diminishing brain power - as by the time it becomes a real problem technology will have found a solution making natural selection obsolete." Source: www.dailymail.co.uk