Bananas (1971)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers:

Woody Allen (written by) &
Mickey Rose (written by)

Release Date:

19 July 1971 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.

Plot Keywords:

Political | President | Rebellion | Product Tester | Protest

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Fielding Mellish
Louise Lasser	...	Nancy
Carlos Montalbán	...	General Emilio M. Vargas
Nati Abascal	...	Yolanda (as Natividad Abascal)
Jacobo Morales	...	Esposito
Miguel Ángel Suárez	...	Luis (as Miguel Suarez)
David Ortiz	...	Sanchez
René Enríquez	...	Diaz (as Rene Enríquez)
Jack Axelrod	...	Arroyo
Howard Cosell	...	Himself
Roger Grimsby	...	Himself
Don Dunphy	...	Himself
Charlotte Rae	...	Mrs. Mellish
Stanley Ackerman	...	Dr. Mellish
Dan Frazer	...	Priest

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for comic sexuality including some pin-up nudity, some drug use and crude language.

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:16 | Iceland:Unrated | Ireland:15 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (cut) | USA:GP (original rating, certificate #22817) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

The rebels' anthem is the same one used in Sleeper (1973).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Fielding is driving his Volkswagen and talking, there is a shot where his lips clearly aren't moving.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Don Dunphy: Good afternoon. Wide World of Sports is in the little republic of San Marcos where we're going to bring you a live, on the spot assassination. They're going to kill the president of this lovely Latin American country and replace him with a military dictatorship...

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Quiero La Noche

Keep up! Keep up!

Bananas is mad. That may seem like an ungrammatical statement, but Bananas is about as bananas as any film totally lacking in bananas (except for one small reference) could possibly be. The popular conception of the arc that Woody Allen films have taken over the past 30 odd years is one that goes from silly to serious. It is certainly true that his earlier films (from Take the Money and Run to Annie Hall) are faster, sillier and more crammed-full with one-liners and hysterical gags than his more thoughtful, analytical tragicomedies such as Crimes and Misdemeanors – which are in no way less satisfying, but are certainly more controlled than the likes of this gem.

Woody's second feature as writer, director and leading actor shows what true master of comedy he was right from the start of his career. The entire film never pauses for breath and is a constant barrage of witty gags, farcical situations, physical humour and satirical jibes at ... everything really! The beginning is relatively famous and rightly so (perhaps not famous enough), with ABC's Wide World of Sports providing coverage of the assassination of the President of the small republic of San Marcos. The comments and remarks by the presenters are wonderful and the entire scene is a bold, brash start to a fast-paced, dazzling film.

Many other fabulous scenes and moments are quick to follow, favourites of mine being: "The Execucisor"; Fielding and Nancy trying to pinpoint what Nancy feels is missing from their relationship; Fielding's utter embarrassment purchasing a pornographic magazine; his recurrent dream; Nancy (just ... Nancy!); the training with the guerrilla rebels; the entirely bizarre courtroom scene; dinner with the president and Fielding's desperate struggle to keep three unconscious men upright!

And that's just a small part of this quick-fire spectacle!

The music is great – mixing Latin American, Dixieland jazz and that great 1812 Overture moment! Allen's direction is suitably all over the place – in the good way! – and the speed is relentless. Any bad points would be some over-the-top jokes and occasionally one might wonder whether things are a little too disjointed. However, it shows that Woody was on top of his game right from the start.

Rating: 8 1/2 (out of 10)