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Bananas
1971
Woody Allen leads a revolution in a small Latin American dictatorship in this hysterical comedy that parodies everything from the American media and political activism to the CIA and the judicial system. Allen plays Fielding Mellish, a nebbish unwilling to commit to anything--until he meets Nancy, played by Louise Lasser. .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Allen, Carlos Montalban, Louise Lasser, Sylvester Stallone |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Bananas
Woody Allen leads a revolution in a small Latin American dictatorship in this hysterical comedy that parodies everything from the American media and political activism to the CIA and the judicial system. Allen plays Fielding Mellish, a nebbish unwilling to commit to anything--until he meets Nancy, played by Louise Lasser. Mellish soon finds himself fighting with guerrilla forces in the small third world country of San Marcos, and he becomes an international figure, even appearing on ABC's WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS with Howard Cosell, who plays himself. The film is loaded with sight gags that pay homage to Chaplin, Bergman, and the Marx Brothers while taking on politics, government, and religion, even breaking for a commercial for cigarettes endorsed by the church. One of the most memorable scenes of Allen's career occurs when Mellish defends himself in the funniest courtroom scene since the Three Stooges' DISORDER IN THE COURT. Allen's obsessions with food, sex, and death begin to take form here, on their way to becoming major themes in such films as LOVE AND DEATH, ANNIE HALL, and HANNAH AND HER SISTERS.
| Starring | Woody Allen, Carlos Montalban, Louise Lasser, Sylvester Stallone, Danny DeVito |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 18 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 19 Feb 2001 Production year: 1971 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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With its title referring to both banana republics and the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts, Woody Allen's second picture as director and star is one of his least convincing outings. Packed with nods to cinematic maestros such as Eisenstein, Chaplin, Buñuel and Bergman, it's the work of a comic delighting in his gags rather than a director in control of his material. A touch of political satire might have helped stem the endless flow of throwaway lines and surreal incidents, as well as giving the plot a little more focus. Inconsistent it may be, but when Bananas is funny, it's a riot.
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Allen's second feature, a tribute to the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, is a wonderfully incoherent series of one-liners... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Comedy Classic
I've heard how much people rate Woody Allen over the years, but never really touched upon his films. After hearing how highly rated Bananas was, I plumped for this as my first Woody film. I'm glad I did. His humour is by no means conventional, but a mixture of Marx-like visual gags and highbrow (but not in a show-off way) comedy made Bananas a thoroughly enjoyable film, leading to more Woody rentals!
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Most recent members' review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
This early Woody Allen film is just as fractured and absurd as Take The Money And Run, but looks much better and has more laughs due to some great sight gags. Occasionally too off-the-wall for it's own good, and the film loses its way a bit when the action shifts into it's rebellion plot, this film nevertheless has enough laugh out loud moments to be highly recommended.
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News and features
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Whatever Happened to Woody Allen?
- 21 May 2008
He's made (at least!) a film a year since 1970, a record that's all the more remarkable when you realise that he's written and directed all of them, and starred in most. They include some of the best-loved and most quoted comedies in cinema history: Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters take some beating, and that's to ignore "the early, funny ones" (Sleeper, Love and Death, Bananas); the lovely miniatures from what I consider his finest period (the early 80s gave us Broadway Danny... Read more
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