Irish Film Institute -Seeking Temporary Wife

Seeking Temporary Wife

Director: Lisa Ohlin

Sweden| 2003. English subtitles. Colour. dts stereo. Anamorphic. 93 min.


Milla and Fredrik, the protagonists of writer-director Lisa Ohlin’s very fine tragi-comedy, are unhappy and neurotic. Fredrik, the middle-aged owner of a small fast-food restaurant, has a dream which has turned into an obsession: he wants to be a father. The dream seems at hand when his partner Pia gets pregnant, but it soon shatters: Pia announces that the child is not his and she is moving in with the father of the baby. So begins Fredrik’s odyssey: he tries every means to achieve paternity, even setting up a fake wedding with Tanja, the Russian waitress at his restaurant. Milla is the social worker who’s put in charge of Fredrik’s case. The real problems start when, one rainy afternoon, Fredrik and Milla end up in bed together. A series of misunderstandings and disasters ensue as the film gathers pace and intensity to close on a note of optimism and hope. A lightweight but charming film.

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