Producing Adults (2004) Lapsia ja aikuisia - Kuinka niitä tehdään? (original title)

Director:

Aleksi Salmenperä

Writers:

Pekko Pesonen (idea)
Pekko Pesonen (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

17 September 2004 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Just when you think you've grown up...everything changes

Plot:

Longtime couple Venla and Antero come to a serious impasse. After years with Antero, Venla wants to start a family...

Plot Keywords:

Parenthood | Vasectomy | Fertility | Break Up | Manhood

Awards:

3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Minna Haapkylä	...	Venla
Kari-Pekka Toivonen	...	Antero
Minttu Mustakallio	...	Satu
Tommi Eronen	...	Rönkkö
Pekka Strang	...	Miro
Dick Idman	...	Claes
Antti Raivio	...	Jarmo Heiskanen
Saara Pakkasvirta	...	Seija
Meri Nenonen	...	Tintti
Juha Kukkonen	...	Hessu
Tiina Pirhonen	...	Receptionist
Elina Knihtilä	...	Anna Heiskanen
Ghia Fieandt	...	Edith Heiskanen (as Edith Fieandt)
Eeli Salmenperä	...	Eeli Heiskanen
Iiris Haase	...	Ida Heiskanen
Minna Savin	...	Antero's Mother
Aarne Toivonen	...	Young Antero
Pekka Valkeejärvi	...	Doctor
Hannu-Pekka Björkman	...	Vasektomialääkäri
Ville Virtanen	...	Marriage Councillor
Rea Mauranen	...	Marriage Councillor
Kirsti Kuosmanen	...	Woman at Therapy
Mikael Rejström	...	Man at Therapy (as Micke Rejström)
Heikki Nousiainen	...	Neighbour
Jarkko Pajunen	...	Driver in Traffic Jam
Matti Onnismaa	...	Driver in Traffic Jam
Aamer Hammoudi	...	Driver in Traffic Jam
Mika Poutala	...	Skater #1
Robert Brandt	...	Skater #2
Jarmo Valtonen	...	Skater #3
Aija Puurtinen	...	Band Member
Pekka Lehti	...	Band Member
Juuso Hannukainen	...	Band Member
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jonna Haapkylä	...	Nurse

Directed by
Aleksi Salmenperä

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tuomo Hutri		original idea
Pekko Pesonen		idea
Pekko Pesonen		screenplay
Aleksi Salmenperä		original idea
Antti Sipilä		original idea

Produced by
Helena Danielsson	....	co-producer
Tomas Eskilsson	....	co-producer
Petri Jokiranta	....	producer
Tero Kaukomaa	....	producer
Jukka Kujala	....	post-production producer
Peter Possne	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Timo Hietala

Cinematography by
Tuomo Hutri

Film Editing by
Kimmo Taavila

Production Design by
Annika Björkman

Costume Design by
Tiina Kaukanen

Makeup Department
Juhana Hellamaa	....	hair dresser: Kampaamo Volyme
Tiia Jokivalli	....	hair dresser: Kampaamo Volyme
Kati Koski	....	assistant makeup artist
Petra Kuntsi	....	assistant makeup artist
Jonna Salonen	....	assistant makeup artist
Mari Vaalasranta	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Pirjo Koskelo	....	production manager
Antti Sipilä	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mark Lwoff	....	first assistant director
Piia Nokelainen	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Antero Airos	....	graphic designer
Leila Anttila	....	art department
Annika Björkman	....	art department
Johanna Heikkilä	....	art department
Matti Helariutta	....	graphic designer
Toni Kari	....	art department
Sari Kiiski	....	art department
Heikki Leikola	....	art department
Niina Tanskanen	....	art department
Ville Tervonen	....	art department
Ville Tervonen	....	property master

Sound Department
Tuomas Klaavo	....	sound recordist
Janne Laine	....	sound
Mika Niinimaa	....	boom operator
Kasper Val Bjerregård Larsen	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
Ulf Olausson	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Tommi Gröhn	....	digital film recording
Tuomo Hintikka	....	digital effects artist
Petteri Linnus	....	online artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Tero Aaltonen	....	second assistant camera
Manu Haapala	....	best boy
Anna Maria Jòakimsdottir Hutri	....	still photographer (as Anna Maria Jóakimsdóttir)
Juha Niska	....	lighting technician
Raimo Paananen	....	first assistant camera
Arttu Peltomaa	....	lighting trainee
Ville Penttilä	....	gaffer
Miska Rämö	....	lighting technician
Ville Salminen	....	lighting technician
Karri Takala	....	grip
Jukka Talikka	....	Steadicam operator
Tikka Tolonen	....	still photographer (as Iikka Tolonen)

Editorial Department
Marko Terävä	....	digital color grading
Harri Ylönen	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Mongo Aaltonen	....	musician: percussion
Ulla Hammarberg	....	musician: cello
Timo Hietala	....	music producer
Minna Kangas	....	musician: violin
Esa Kuloniemi	....	musician: guitar
Pekka Lehti	....	musician: contrabass
Mikko Oinonen	....	music mixer
Lea Pekkala	....	musican: cello
Mauri Saarikoski	....	concert master
Hannu Vasara	....	musician: violin
Tapio Waismaa	....	musician: violin

Transportation Department
Reima Gustavsson	....	transportation: instruments

Other crew
Jukka Asikainen	....	script editor
Heidi Fast	....	assistant to director
Susan Heiskanen	....	translator
Juha Hämynen	....	insurance
Leena Kemppi	....	script editor
Mika Laitinen	....	caterer
Taina Linna	....	production secretary
Pekka Milonoff	....	script editor
Veli-Matti Mäkolä	....	production accountant
Pia Naarajärvi	....	legal services
Tuula Nikkola	....	script supervisor
Piia Nokelainen	....	post-production coordination
Elina Pohjola	....	caterer (as Elina Lindroos)
Elina Pohjola	....	production assistant (as Elina Lindroos)
Merja Ritola	....	production secretary
Jukka Saharinen	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Blind Spot Pictures Oy
• Sonet Film AB (co-production)
• Film i Väst

Distributors

• Celluloid Dreams (2004) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• PRO-FUN media Filmverleih (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2004) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2004) (Finland) (all media)
• Cineworx (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Antiprod (2007) (France) (DVD)
• Peccadillo Pictures (2010) (UK) (all media)
• Wolfe Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Generator Post  post-production
• Helsinging Tilikeskus Oy  accounting
• KOM-teksti  script editorial
• Kampaamo Volyme  hair dressing
• Keittiöguru  catering
• Pohjola  insurance
• Soundtrack-studio  music studio

Also Known As:

"Lapsia ja aikuisia - Kuinka niitä tehdään?" - Finland (original title)
"Children and Adults: How Are They Made?" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Finland | Sweden

Language:

Finnish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Company:

Blind Spot Pictures Oy

Trivia:

This is Finland's official Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film of 2004.

Quotes:

Venla:I gotta go home!
Satu:No, wait! Do you think that I should rub your clitoris before you go?
[long silence]
Satu:That was a joke!

Soundtrack:

Toiset meistä

original take on the theme of parenthood

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Venla is a fertility clinic psychologist who provides counseling for couples before they take that life-altering plunge into child-rearing. The irony is that Venla wants desperately to have a child of her own, but Antero, her boyfriend of fifteen years, who wants no part of the responsibility of fatherhood, is secretly sabotaging their efforts at conception, going so far as slipping contraceptives into her drinks and eventually even having a vasectomy without her knowledge. The third major character in the drama is Satu, a lesbian co-worker at the clinic, who also wants a child and with whom Venla begins to fall in love.

"Producing Adults" is one of the few films I can remember that actually deals with an issue that most people end up struggling with at some point in their lives: when - and even if - to have children. The movie tries to be fair with all its characters, even showing Antero, who does some pretty despicable things in the course of the movie, in a reasonably sympathetic light. Although his motives for not having children arise from a certain core selfishness - he is a championship skater who feels fatherhood would severely limit his chances of winning an Olympic gold medal - we can see that he truly does love Venla and is terrified of losing her. We can also empathize with his terror when he visits his prolific married buddy whose home seems to be literally overrun with rampaging little ones. And, for all his dishonesty, at least he isn't producing children THEN deciding he doesn't want to have anything to do with raising them. Moreover, writer Pekko Pesonen and director Aleksi Salmanpera, although their sympathies clearly lie with the two women who want desperately to be mothers, still acknowledge that the very act of having children can often be as rooted in selfishness as NOT having them. In addition, Venla is not always completely honest herself, even going so far as to trick her husband into "donating" a sperm sample to see if he's fertile without his prior consent.

This Finnish film offers a complex study of human nature as the three main characters interact in ways that are both revelatory and highly unexpected. Actually, the movie is at its most interesting when it is focusing on the marital conflict between Venla and Antero, and a bit less interesting when it is chronicling the burgeoning love between Venla and Satu. Venla's almost instantaneous "conversion" to lesbianism seems too much a matter of convenience to be taken seriously and, thus, puts a strain on the story's credibility. Still, despite that weakness, the film is not only well acted, but has some profound things to say about the kind of compromises people have to make when they become mature adults.