Review of Bananas (1971) by Andy P — 29 Oct 2014

Said to be one of Woody Allen's funniest works, Bananas sounded like a delightful romp.

I'm not 100% certain of what the satirical edge in Bananas was directed at. I didn't live through the era that the film was produced in and so I'm not fully certain of what it intends to be poking fun at. All I can gather from my limited knowledge is that there are some elements to it which could be linked to the conflicts between America and Cuba during the time period of its production. That could just be a guess, but that's all I have to go on. Since I only understood a handful of the film's points I had to look at it strictly for its more obvious comic facets. And for what it's worth, it remains an entertaining Woody Allen piece.

The structure of the plot in Bananas is really good. Unlike many of Woody Allen's films, the premise moves along in a consistent manner and feels like a single narrative instead of seeming like a series of sketches. I'll admit that the story was far from perfect because it was only able to go so far and the ending to the film was not as satisfying as the rest of it, but it at least made a strong effort to remain focused on telling its story. It made a good balance between story and comedy, and even if the comedy in the film is rather dated by today's standards and the theme of romance between Fielding Mellish and Nancy is not that interesting, it still provides an interesting and nostalgic journey back in time to some of Woody Allen's finer early pieces.

The cross between the concept of the fictional San Marcos revolution and the Woody Allen style of light parody humour makes for an interesting atmosphere in Bananas. Woody Allen mentioned that he went to special extents to ensure that the film had a very light tone, and it came off really well because the mix between satire and parody in Bananas was excellent. Despite the actual edgy nature of the subject matter, the film easily maintains an extremely light atmosphere full of clever gags which range from political satire pokes to cleverly implemented physical gags. The comedy in the film is appropriately versatile and is time very well while remaining consistent with the pace of the story and never jumping out or dragging on in a senseless manner. The humour may not always be there, but when it is the entertainment value of it all is appealing.

The story capitalises on America's view of communism as a threat as one of its central themes. It plays it off in a clever manner by using it in the satire. There is plenty of satire in the film because the screenplay is a well-conceived one, and it plays out at surprising times as does the general parody humour of it all. It never degenerates to being spoof humour which means that the story is a legitimate one. The humour isn't fully consistent with the film having a slow start and an unsatisfactory finish, but most of the success rests squarely in the middle of the story. So it is not the most inconsistent experience, but a lot of its jokes are clever and the fact that it adheres to a very Woody Allen style which means that it should cater to his fans really easily. It isn't his finest work and is a lot more silly than it is insightful in any sense, but it remains a cheesy humourous experience nonetheless which provides enough laughs to pass it off as a good experience.

Visually, Bananas looks seriously legitimate. Unlike many Woody Allen features which seem like a mix between intentionally cheap and legitimate, Bananas actually looks like a legitimate story. Even though the film remains constantly on a small scale to remain consistent with Woody Allen's signature film style, it goes an excellent distance on a low budget by capitalising on excellent scenery and using a lot of strong and legitimate locations as well as firm costumes and production design. Everything in Bananas looks good and the film is fuelled by a lot of firm imagery, and it supplies plenty of clever visual gags to the film. They are further helped out by the musical score of the film which gives the film a feel so light that it is almost cartoonish.

And while the entire cast make a genuine effort in the film, again, the focus is all around Woody Allen. He plays out the same nebbish once again with the prime difference being that he faces situations of serious political conflict this time. It is an interesting situation to see the character in, and he is able to interact with the universe of the film so easily that the gag doesn't get stale. He plays out the leading role of Fielding Mellish with natural comic charisma and easy charm. And while the relationships that he shares with many of the other characters are not that interesting, he himself is a likable foil who has a lot of neurotic comic charm. Woody Allen puts his natural spirit into the lead role and provides a good comic archetype to face off with all the satirical and edgy material around him. He delivers all of his lines with ease and directs himself to another leading performance which looks like he is having quite a bit of fun with this time around. It is certainly fun to see him taking part in a revolution because the serious nature of the plot elements make a fine contrast with his archetypal nebbish.

So Bananas is a dated film with inconsistent comic success and a premise which varies between having an interesting satirical edge and just being dull, but the lighthearted nature of it all makes it easily watchable and the natural juvenile Woody Allen charm makes it good for enough laughs to last the distance.