Two Men, But No Baby, Swedish Style, in "Patrik, Age 1.5," at Philadelphia QFest
By Joseph R. Saporito
photo by Per-Anders Jorgensen, courtesy of QFest
Gustaf Skarsgard, Torkel Petersson & Thomas Ljungman
In "Patrik, Age 1.5" (Sweden 2008, 100 minutes), in Swedish, with English subtitles, director Ella Lemhagen takes us on a cinematic journey, as Sven (Torkel Petersson) and Göran Skoogh (Gustaf Skarsgård) set out to adopt a baby. We start out on a colorful street in Sweden, where we meet this married gay couple in their heterosexual neighborhood. They want the same thing every other couple wants: a baby.
They go to the Social Services department and apply to adopt, but are denied because many foreign countries do not permit homosexuals to adopt children. Sven already has a daughter, Isabell (Amanda Davin), from an earlier, failed marriage, and essentially failed as a father as well. Göran is a doctor and Skarsgård, always on the mark, plays his compelling part convincingly. After being denied a child, he observes, "We can't even take care of a garden!" Petersson, a bearish man, also playing his part extremely well, is so very believable as Sven, a smoker, prone to drinking.
News arrives from Social Services, which has finally found a child for the couple to adopt. Sven and Göran both fairly bubble with anticipation. Sven is eager for the boy's arrival, so that he can start over again with a new child. Unfortunately, there is a typographical error in the letter the men have received from Social Services: Patrik (Thomas Ljungman) is 15, not 1.5 years old. He is, frankly, a juvenile delinquent and, when he moves in, the quiet street's not quiet anymore, as neighborhood children yell, "Homo!" at both parents and Patrik. Ljungman's Patrik is stunning as he chases these hostile children, trying to catch them and teach them a lesson.
It is a struggle for fathers and child at first, as Patrik does not want these gay men as parents. He wants, instead, what he calls a normal family. Having severe problems with Patrik, Sven is counting the days until the boy leaves, but Göran wants to hold out until Patrik can be placed with the appropriate hetero family. As this battle of personalities, with all their human foibles, proceeds, who will ultimately win seems unpredictable.
Winner of Germany's Verzaubert International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival's 2009 Rosebud award for best feature film for directing "Patrik, Age 1.5," Lemhagen has given us a magnificent picture, telling a sincere and heartwarming tale of human nature. The actors cut eminently persuasive figures as they portray these sensitive, emotional, and flawed characters, and two were nominated for Sweden's prestigious Guldbagge awards: Skarsgård for best actor and Petersson for best supporting actor. The cinematography by Marek Wieser is extraordinary as well. This well written, directed, and acted movie is ideal for anyone interested in gay culture and the possibility of adopting children.
"Patrik, Age 1.5" has its Philadelphia premiere, thanks to QFest 2009 (www.phillycinema.org), on July 11 at 4:45 p.m. at the Ritz East, Theater One, at 125 South Second Street, and is repeated the following day at 7 p.m. at the Prince Music Theater, at 1412 Chestnut Street.
