Patrik,
Age 1.5 is a wonderful film. So
wonderful, in fact, that it feels more like a wish fulfillment than a
movie.
Swedish director Ella LemhagenÕs story concerns a gay
couple who have moved to a suburb and hope to adopt a child. This may be socially progressive
Scandinavia, but it is a Ōburb, with
some stunning familiarities: backyard barbecue parties, nosy housewives in
pink and the ubiquitous, unconscious chauvinism. One day that chauvinism
seems to lay siege when the couple are informed that no country is willing
to accept two fathers. The next day they receive a letter informing them
that, should they be willing, there is a boy for them. Then, what turns out
to be a typo in the letter brings, instead of a 1-1/2-year-old baby, a
delinquent teen to the coupleÕs door. And thatÕs only the beginning ŠŠ in
the course of 90-some minutes, Gran, Sven and Patrik experience more
reversals of fortune than an alternating current.
Gustav Skarsgård (another son of Stellan) is wonderful as Gran. When he is
informed of the coupleÕs rejection as parents, your heart just breaks; he
brings home the universal devastation of anyone denied parenthood in a few
short seconds. In fact, he is an ideal citizen and an ideal parent-to-be:
even-tempered and gentle, caring for others and self. Even when he takes
out his frustration on a park trash can, he hastily cleans up the mess.
Thomas Ljungman is wonderful as the troubled Patrik. Angry, nervous
and refusing even to sleep, he is a bow pulled taut by a lifetime of
rejection. When he begins to find his place in the community as a gardening
wiz and a skateboard hero, you cannot help but root for him. When he holds
snapshots of his infant self and the mother he didnÕt know, your heart
breaks again.
SvenÕs ex-wife Eva (Annika Hallin) is wonderful: She and her teenage
daughter-with-attitude bring the kind of earthiness found in a British
feel-good comedy. She is supportive of Gran in his bid for parenthood and in his temporary separation from Sven. When Gran
asks her with whom Sven had cheated on her, she replies, ŅWith you, you moron!Ó (Though thereÕs a small flicker of
doubt ŠŠ How could this good
a guy ever have been a home
wrecker?)
Even Sven (Torkel Petersson), whose conflict with his self is
brought to the fore by the appearance of Patrik (another small flicker of
doubt: IsnÕt Gran atypically and unbelievably decisive when he kicks Sven
out?), eventually finds peace with himself and his impending parenthood.
When he runs into Gran and Patrik in a park, his eyes beam love and
kindness.
Once the movement has begun, the law of inertia takes over, and it
takes more energy to stop it than to keep it going. Like in an AC-driven
motor, the polar reversals propel, not stop, the forward motion and strengthen
everyoneÕs cause. In the inevitably happy end, everyone has learned
something, just the way you have hoped. Is Patrik 1.5 a fairytale? ItÕs too easy to call it that: Cinderella before its modern whitewashing did have its
gruesomeness, and even contemporary action flicks have more fairytale
elements than Patrik. If itÕs
a role of art to depict things the way they are, canÕt it also instigate a wish? IÕm thinking of Mother Theresa, who said, ŅIf
you have a peace rally, not
an antiwar rally, call me.Ó Or was it Yoko
Ono?
