Bananas

Woody Allen keeps force-feeding the viewer with his strange humor in Bananas. Not even 10 seconds go by without him creating some gag. But the unbelievable number of humorous scenes at times induces an absolutely brutal, never-ending laughter, which is also at times replaced by a scene which I am staring at as if it were an execution. That was probably the intention. For example, the first scene with the murder of the dictator was so brutal, and probably intentionally amateurish, that it was actually pretty funny. (04/11/2015)

The golden age of political satire and a film whose quality is verified by the fact that it has not lost any of its topicality (either towards power and numbness of the media, or towards a very conceptual US foreign policy). The pressurized burlesque disintegrates into fragments of sketches, but in entertains through Monty Python absurdity as well as distinct Allenian self-irony and criticism of anything that is ideologically preserved. The reminiscences of silent grotesques are also wonderful. (07/04/2012)

Woody Allen as an actor is really funny and likeable. As a screenwriter he bristles with original ideas. But, as a director, he is still a little unripe in Bananas. Which is a shame, because the result comes across as being over-combined and unfinished. In the end we see neither a satire, nor a dialog comedy nor even slapstick. But it has elements of all of these genres. And why unfinished? For various reasons, including the fact that the impending duel between Woody and Sly doesn’t happen in the end. (21/06/2007)

The first Woody's film in which it takes slightly seriously, for at least a moment. Even though it must have been hard to keep the script full of gags together, but they managed it and the film is able to incredibly warm despite the constant thematic biting. A romantic comedy, uncontrollable grotesque, political satire, and ideological parody in perfect harmony. (21/06/2007)

Bananas can't even be called a comedy - it's just pure fun. It's a pity that it has a few weaker scenes and especially the very last one, which confirms that a repeated joke is not always funny, because otherwise it is fun satirical entertainment in the spirit of slapstick. The brilliant opening with the assassination of the president made me laugh out loud, and the buying of food for the revolutionaries, the courthouse scene, or the New Testament commercial were also great. Yes, it's flawed, because the story is so inconsequential that the film feels like a double episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, but then again that’s not a bad comparison, right? (30/08/2013)