Film explores gay adoption gone awry

“Patrik, Age 1. 5,” opening at Ritz theaters today, is a modest but mostly enjoyable feel-good comedy-drama from Sweden.

Göran (Gustaf Skarsgård) and Sven (Torkel Petersson) are an affectionate married gay couple who move into a suburban community where all the houses on the street look the same. They want to be just like straight families — and there is nothing wrong with that, right? The couple has also arranged to adopt a child to complete the traditional happy-family unit.

However, their adoption request is denied at first. Their domestic harmony is further spoiled when Patrik (Thomas Ljungman), a 15-year-old with a criminal background and contempt for queers, turns up as their assigned “son.” Comedy ensues from this arrangement as Göran and Sven fight bureaucratic red tape from social services as well as the police. They also battle with the contentious Patrik and each other.

Thankfully, the film’s writer-director, Ella Lemhagen, mines this albeit contrived situation for poignancy and tenderness. Skarsgård’s performance is quite affecting as he palpably bonds with Patrik. Eager to prove that not every gay man registers for NAMBLA when presented with a cute male teenager, the film’s characters combat discrimination with dignity. Göran’s efforts to be respected in his community are endearing and even empowering.

While the insistence on using album-oriented rock-pop tunes on the soundtrack makes “Patrik, Age 1.5” feel emotionally calculated and button-pushing at times, the positive messages still go down smoothly.

Lemhagen chatted with PGN about her film and how she came to make this queer family comedy.

PGN: What prompted you to adapt this play into a film? EL: I never heard or read the play — I accepted [the job] just from the pitch. I read the play and didn’t like the play so much, so I used the pitch and wrote my own story version. I like mistaken-identity comedies where someone thinks one person will show up and another person does. And this is also a love story between three men — if you count the boy.

PGN: The main characters want to be like “everyone else” — in a suburban house with a family — why does that theme resonate? EL: It’s more the idea Göran wants it but Sven doesn’t. Sven has the background living this typical life — he has been married and has a child — and he left it. He met Göran and chose a different [gay] life, but then he realized Göran is going after what Sven has left. Sven wants something completely different. He lives with a man now. I was interested in that conflict. Göran is not conflicted about being gay. He wants to live an ordinary life with kids and doesn’t want to be special, so he’s confused when people treat him like he’s different.

PGN: The film is pretty family-friendly — not too edgy, sexy or violent. Did you specifically want it to appeal to a broad audience? EL: Yes. The producer’s idea was to make it mainstream, and what I liked about that was not just telling a story about gay people for gay people — because that becomes a narrow audience — it was more telling a love story about a couple that wants to have a child and what happens when the wrong child appears. It’s important that it’s a gay couple — but I wanted to tell is so everyone can relate to the family issues. Their struggles aren’t specific to a gay couple, more of people you can relate to.

PGN: Much of the comedy comes from the bureaucratic red tape Göran and Sven go through with social services and the police. Are you showing how difficult gay adoption is? EL: Yes. I really checked the situation in Sweden before I made this film. I interviewed the first Swedish gay couple that was accepted to legally adopt in 2003. But they are still waiting to adopt. So it was based on that couple’s story. It’s upsetting in a way that it’s legal but not possible because of bureaucracy.

PGN: How did you choose the actors for the film? Did you go for certain types — to break stereotypes, perhaps? EL: Torkel (Sven) and I worked together before. We discussed Gustaf as Göran, but I was almost sure, at 26, he was too young. So I took those two in by chance and after a minute I was convinced they were in love. I know they are both straight, but I believed them. It was more difficult to find a young kid for Patrik. Thomas had a lot of energy and wanted to do it. But he was almost too charming, and too cute. I was looking for someone more [dangerous]. I tried to turn him down. I [stripped] his [voice] away and worked more on his expressions and body language than words/dialogue.

PGN: What’s with all the country music on the soundtrack? EL: Maybe it was a gay stereotype, but I wanted that kind of music for Sven who is macho. I started to think of him as a cowboy, with his shirts and boots. Originally I wanted only Dolly Parton, but it was so expensive, I had to change it to Tanya Tucker. Except I got “Here You Come Again,” because Dolly didn’t write that. We made our own recording, so it connected to Dolly.

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