SERES QUERIDOS
("ONLY HUMAN")

5th Spanish Film Festival
Cinema 1, Greenbelt 3

I might as well bring a sleeping bag to camp out at the Greenbelt cinemas so I can watch as many Spanish films as possible.

This comedy about an 'interracial' romance is rip roaringly hilarious. It has been ages since I laughed this much while watching a movie.

Leni Dali, a perky redhead returns home to introduce her fiance to her family. Her Jewish family is composed of her workaholic father, a typical nagging mother, her single mother sister is a belly dancer at a restaurant and her younger brother recently started practising his Jewish faith more diligently after he saw "Fiddler on the Roof". Completing the family is her blind Holocaust survivor grandfather and her spoiled brat niece. The setting is their cosy 7th floor apartment. Everything seems to go well except when Leni reveals to her family that not only is Rafi (her fiance) an Israeli, he is in fact, a Palestinian. The ruckus that unfolds as the whole family is turned upside down is really worth watching.

Funny scenes are mostly in the dialogue as well as the silly antics they all get into. Eventually the glaring differences between the two lovers arises, especially when they argue about their respective religious beliefs. The setting is mainly in the apartment of this crazy yet endearing family.

Guillermo Toledo is one of the most convincingly funny Spanish actors I've seen on screen. His role in "Crimen Ferpecto" which I watched at last year's Spanish Film Fest proves he has great comedic timing. His portrayal of Rafi as the Palestinian who has fully immersed into the Spanish culture is brilliant. He totally captured it to a T. Heh I should know my ex boyfriend was Palestinian too but he wasn't Spanish. The rest of the cast were all quite good in making their characters quite endearing to the audience. Dsyfunctional and all, they were still very vibrantly humane and had genuine personalities.

I truly recommend this film! It is poignant, socially relevant, wacky, really hilarious and proves that love does conquer all.