Patrik Age 1.5
Director Ella Lemhagen’s dramatic comedy, adapted from a three-person stage play, hinges on a bureaucratic blunder. After facing much discrimination in their quest to adopt a child, Swedish gay couple Goran and Sven finally appear to be cleared to take possession of an 18-month-old boy named Patrik. However, due to a misplaced punctuation mark, the “1.5-year-old” turns out to be 15—and a homophobe with a violent criminal record to boot. This sitcom-like plot point is transformed in Lemhagen’s hands into an intelligent rumination on tolerance and gradual understanding in a country that has been surprisingly slow to accept the idea of same-sex couple adoption. Initially, all involved are displeased about the situation, especially Sven, who has also had his share of youthful run-ins with the law and knows the violence Patrik is capable of unleashing. The couple eventually coax positive qualities out of Patrik that go deeper than the teen’s initial disgust about having to live with “homos.” With strong performances by all involved, Patrik Age 1.5 is a sensitive, quietly funny, and surprisingly affecting take on the theme of a same-sex couple raising an adopted child.
Sponsors:
GSBA, Three Dollar Bill Cinema
Cast & Crew
Director: Ella Lemhagen
Producer: Tomas Michaelsson, Lars Blomgren
Editor: Thomas Lagerman
Screenwriter: Ella Lemhagen, based on the play by Michael Druker
Cinematographer: Marek Septimus Wieser
Music: Fredrik Emilson
Principal Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Torkel Petersson, Tom Ljungman
Filmography: Immediate Boarding (2003); If Not (2001); Tsatsiki, Mum and the Policeman (1999); Welcome to the Party (1997); About Em: The Prince of Dreams (1996)
World Sales: Svensk Filmindustri, AB
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(4 reviews)
User reviews
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Nice and sweet, May 30, 2009
By spacy1973
“This is a film with a story that you knew where things would somewhat lead to from scene to scene. Yet it was nice to be lead through by the director. Lighthearted and humerous at times, the story finishes with a happy ending for all three characters.”
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Charming cinematic comfoort food, Jun 03, 2009
By daninwa
“Sure it is predictable and to me some of the townspeople's reaction to the gay couple seemed sort of dated. But Patrik 1.5 is full of charm and heart and stands out as one of the better films in recent gay film history. ”
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Sweet, Jun 04, 2009
By dvkseattle
“How fun to watch the one on one relationships evolve and grow between each of the characters. Its a film that make you root for each one of them for different reasons, but in a way that all emerge happy and better for the experience, despite how challenging situations and condiions proved to be. ”
… full review
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Thoughtful and sweet, Jun 06, 2009
By mnoyes
“A gay couple who have newly moved into a suburban neighborhood are looking to adopt a baby, but are having some trouble. There are those in the community, for one, who are not very accepting of their presence. For another, although they have been approved for adoption, no one giving children up for”
… full review
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