3. Bananas
Woody Allen has been an institution in the film-world for such a long time, that its easy to forget that once upon a time he was known as stand-up comedian and gifted screenwriter. And even when he became a filmmaker, it took a while for the Woody Allen identity to really set in. These days, Allen films are remembered for their portrayals of crumbling marriages and neurotic self-destruction. Theres an element of prestige to everything the man puts out. So its fun to go back and look at his second solo-directing work, the 1971 film Bananas and see just how silly and bizarre Allens humor truly as. Bananas is the almost plotless account of the bizarre life of Fielding Mellish, a neurotic nobody from NYC (sort of like 99% of Woody Allens main characters) as he stumbles through a life and a romance that eventually result in him assuming control of the government of a fictional South American country. Allen fills the film with every kind of gag imaginable, playing with sound, film-speed, film-stock, sight-gags, word-play and busting down the fourth with dynamite. By the time Howard Cosell shows up to broadcast Allens less-than-successful night-in with his girlfriend, the film has left all semblance of narrative behind in favor of stream-of-conscious goofiness. Where profound comes into it is the role that Bananas plays in the arc of Allens career. While the film itself is little more than a hilarious lark, as the launching pad for the filmography that Allen would later build, Bananas is invaluable. The way that Allen utilizes sound, the way he turns the very film stock into a part of his gags, the way he cuts and frames those trademark word battles, all take shape in Bananas. While his later films have surpassed it, it was in Bananas that the Woody Allen that occupies such a place in film history really began to take shape. Love him or hate him, Allen is one of the key voices in American film, and has been for five decades now. He is a filmmaker in constant evolution. Bananas was step one.
Brendan Foley
Contributor
Brendan Foley is a pop-culture omnivore which is a nice way of saying he has no taste. He has a passion for genre movies, TV shows, books and any and all media built around short people with hairy feet and magic rings. He has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Writing, which is a very nice way of saying that he's broke. You can follow/talk to/yell at him on Twitter at @TheTrueBrendanF.
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