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Semen, A Love Story review
:. Director: Daniela Fejerman & Inés Paris
:. Starring: Ernesto Alterio, Leticia Dolera
:. Running Time: 1:29
:. Year: 2005
:. Original Title: Semen, una historia de amor
:. Country: Spain
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American romantic comedies are rarely romantic or funny. In general, they're awful. Once in a while one comes along that shakes things up a bit (Notting Hill or Love Actually—though they don't even take place in the States) but in general it's a genre that I faithfully avoid.
With a name like Semen: A Love Story, one might (somewhat wistfully) think that the film festival circuit is now accepting porn in an attempt to increase ticket sales. Not so. Semen: A Love Story is one of the funniest, original romantic comedies I've seen in long time. Ariadna (Leticia Dolera) is a trapeze artist looking to become artificially inseminated and Serafin (Ernesto Alterio) is the man charged with this task at the clinic. After she fails to get pregnant and his love for her grows, he decides to use his own semen. They fall in love and he hopes to become dad. She doesn't want kids though; the baby is for her infertile sister. And so on. Inserted into the mix is Serafim's father Emilio (real life dad Hector Alterio), a former weatherman turned recluse who spends his day in bed watching natural disasters. Hardly a loving father/son relationship but their scenes together are the funniest of the film. What follows is a comedy of trial and error that is highly enjoyable and blissfully devoid of the cheesy close-ups of the usual corral of American actresses mooning for the camera and their People's Choice Award.
Of course, like most romantic comedies, the general structure is familiar enough. Boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-finds-girl-again will not shock anyone. But throw in a circus, a mix-up at the hospital and other over-the-top moments with strong performances and suddenly the bad films of Julia, Catherine and Meg are a distant memory. Shot in vibrant colors and highly stylized, this farfetched fairy tale comes to life with scenes at the circus. There is also a big wink to Notting Hill with the seasons changing as heartbroken Serafin wanders through the streets.
Though it's not a deep philosophical study of the meaning of family, Semen, A Story of Love does ponder the topic in a loving, unique way that is successful on the whole, moving the film to a satisfying conclusion.
Anji Milanovic
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