SEED is a well crafted, slice-of-life short film comedy that tells the story of Andrew's obsession with fertility from childhood to adulthood.
It is classic story telling of the "hero's journey". Beginning with the adult Andrew undergoing "the snip" (vasectomy) in surgery, we flash back to the young Andrew first hearing about fertility in church in the guise of the ill-fated Onan and the "slaying and spilling". We progressively trace defining moments in Andrew's adolescence and the factors that threaten his fertility - fear of tight underpants, fear of cricket and hurdle games, fear of radiation in certain professions, fear of smoking and even fear of eating hormone encrusted chicken! It's told very cleverly with a smart visual style.
We progress into his teenage years and share the excitement of meeting the love of his life, only to be rejected when he catches the mumps and is diagnosed as infertile. The shot of Andrew's reflection in the Volkswagen mirror as his girlfriend hands back the engagement ring tells it all.
As in all good journeys of the hero it all works out in the end with a lovely sense of irony coupled with very moving and uplifting close which is a tribute to fathers who take their responsibility seriously.
The film is constructed like a "mini-feature", at times pacey, other times slow and emotional, at all times intriguing the audience as to what will happen next. The direction and cinematography are superb and the vignette style is both complemented and neatly bound by a sustained and insightful narration by the mellifluous Simon Westaway.
In this day and age of the gag short film, SEED displays a maturity rarely seen. The experience of the film makers is obvious here as it a good story well told with visual appeal portraying a sensitive issue with a balance of humour and candour. Most importantly SEED is entertaining and this obviously why it has won so many awards.