Bananas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Bananas Blu-ray Movie Review

It's ap-peel-ing.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 25, 2016

Note: This film is also available as part of the set Woody Allen: Six Films 1971-1978.

The six films included in a new set from Arrow comprise some of Woody Allen’s best known and best loved offerings, but they also provide a nice window into Allen’s evolution from a schtick and gag laden auteur to a filmmaker with something obviously a bit deeper on his mind than “only” going for the gusto in terms of laughs. Tracing the kind of frankly odd route from Bananas to Interiors may not provide much grist for a mill interested in narrative through lines, but it at least provides ample evidence that Allen, no matter how he’s seen currently within the context of his external “baggage,” has always been a relentlessly unique force in the contemporary film world. Allen’s filmmaking craft also increases exponentially over the half dozen films in this set, and one of the more interesting things to pay attention to is how his directorial chops noticeably improved in terms of even relatively simple things like framings and how to set up a shot for maximum impact. But Allen’s writing went through a similar metamorphosis, slowly but surely turning away from, or at least relying less upon, sight gags and just downright goofiness in favor of more intellectually prone humor. Allen continues to be a divisive figure, not just in the annals of cinema but (not to state the obvious) for some of the personal choices he’s made through the years (not to mention allegations that have been leveled against him), but these six films, most done before any major “brouhahas” had started to append “meta” analyses to his offerings, are an often stunning example of a brilliant comedic mind who also began to nurture his more dramatic tendencies.

Probably all you need to know about the character Woody Allen plays in Bananas can be summed up in his name, Fielding Mellish. That first name is arch and pretentious, and the last name bears a certain Yiddish flavor which might remind some of less than positive descriptors like nebbish. Even this early in Allen’s screen career, his heroes were already well defined, with ample amounts of both neurosis and libido. Both of those elements play into Mellish’s predicaments throughout the film, with this sad sack trying to “impress the girl” by becoming a social activist, which in turn leads him to become the dictator of a banana republic. Unlikely? Of course. Hilarious? Undoubtedly.

Without putting too fine a point on it, Bananas is in some ways an example of “guerrilla filmmaking” on the part of Allen. It’s a film that is wild, loose, structurally a bit ragged and from a purely film craft standpoint, a little uneven. But Allen’s comedic sensibilities are on target virtually every moment, including in now quaint seeming bookending sequences which feature the inimitable commentary by Howard Cosell (younger viewers not familiar with this name are encouraged to do a little Googling to bring them up to speed). Allen has always had a talent for framing seemingly “everyday” events (even if those are coups in foreign countries) in a completely charming, unexpected way, and Bananas’ opening sequence, which offers a political uprising as a kind of cage match between combatants, is a perfect example of this tendency.

Before Diane Keaton assumed the part of being Allen’s muse, Louise Lasser was Allen’s cinematic partner (not to mention wife), and she is in a way probably more in tune with the neurotic, overtly Jewish ambience that informs much of Allen’s material. In Bananas she portrays Nancy, a girl Fielding has the hots for, but who ends up dumping him in favor of her social activism. That gives Fielding the bright (?) idea to travel to a, well, banana republic called San Marcos to try to achieve something akin to “street cred” as an activist himself, in the hopes of re-winning Nancy’s favor. Needless to say, an undeniably neurotic urbanite like Fielding doesn’t exactly mesh with the rural and politically roiling environment he finds in San Marcos.

What’s interesting about this central conceit of Bananas is that, after the hilarious prologue presenting the assassination of the (former) leader of San Marcos, Allen doesn’t really get to the whole banana republic revolution scenario until quite a bit later in the film. Instead, there’s a whole series of vignettes that kicks off the film, including an early sequence that finds Fielding struggling with modern technology in what might be seen as an homage of sorts to Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times . Other sequences detail Fielding’s amorous misadventures (or at least attempted misadventures) with Nancy, not to mention his penchant for purchasing girlie magazines (there’s an especially unfortunate joke Allen makes about child molesting which now has “ripples” it didn’t have at the time of the film’s release).

The film becomes increasingly surreal as it moves along, starting with Mellish’s unlikely ascent to rebel leader in San Marcos and then especially in a totally gonzo courtroom scene that plays like a cross between The Three Stooges’ Disorder in the Court (available as part of The Three Stooges in 3D) and a fever dream experienced by Hunter S. Thompson. Though a little clunky at times in the actual film craft department, Bananas nonetheless still finds Allen a rather facile director even this early in his career. Note the obvious homage to Eisensteinian montage theory in the early assassination sequence, as well as the overt reference to Eisenstein and Battleship Potemkin late in the film. Allen allows his performers to assume a naturalistic mien, leading to sweet little moments where, to cite just one example, the inimitable Howard Cosell just laughs out loud at what might have been ad libbed punchlines by Allen and Lasser.

Bananas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bananas is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. (This released is locked Region B.) This is one of the Allen films that has not yet been released in the United States on Blu-ray, but the look of the transfer, while occasionally problematic, is pretty much in line with what has been seen in the U.S. in terms of the MGM/UA Allen catalog in high definition. The good news is that, while not perfect, this transfer looks a good deal better in motion than some of the screenshots accompanying this review would suggest. The palette is generally quite nicely suffused, though I felt things may have faded just slightly, leading to a slightly brown tinge some of the time. Grain is pretty coarse throughout the presentation, and looks fairly chunky at several junctures, as well as being somewhat variable at times. Contrast might have been improved, which could have led to better shadow definition in several dark scenes, including an early moment in the bedroom between Fielding and Nancy, and later in several of the jungle scenes in San Marcos. There's some significant crush in some of these moments where things like black pants just disappear into the surrounding shadows. Bananas has never been a "beautiful" film, and its gritty tendencies are well reproduced on this Blu-ray. Elements have typical age related flecks and specks, but image stability is very good.

Bananas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Bananas features an LPCM 2.0 mono track that sounds a bit boxy at times, but which has nothing major to complain about. Credits readers will note (no pun intended) Marvin Hamlisch's name as composer, and he provides a somewhat anachronistic score for an Allen film, one filled with a repeated cue that almost sounds like it could have come from a mid-sixties' spy outing. It's the music in fact which reveals most of the boxiness on hand, for dialogue and even some effects (like the gun shots in the credits or in the actual assassination scene) sound bright and clear. Fidelity is fine and there are no problems with any issues like dropouts.

Bananas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 3:16)

Note: Arrow provided check discs for review purposes, so I can't comment on any additional supplements in terms of insert booklet essays and the like.

Bananas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bananas may have a bit more of a loosey-goosey feeling than some of Allen's later films, but it's undeniably hilarious quite a bit of the time, even if some of the humor (like that aforementioned joke about child molestation) now plays with an unavoidable "meta" aspect. Allen and Lasser obviously are completely comfortable around each other, and their frankly kind of bizarre interchanges give this film a kind of sweet undertone which is offset by some of the more scabrous political elements, like having an assassination be part of a television sports broadcast. Technical merits are generally very good to excellent, and Bananas comes Highly recommended.