Edinburgh International Film Festival

The film Bananaz by Ceri Levy and featuring the music band Gorillas is a musical documentary that chronicles the lives of some of the band members in their search to bring their bang together for the first time. Some of the primary story lines of the movie are the main men who created the band, how to animate, how to make a movie, and how to flip a cigarette into one’s mouth. The film features the core band as well as a diverse crew of, apparently, less important members of the band, including a black bass player who disappears randomly and without explanation mid film. The animated alter ego’s of the band’s members appear briefly, lasting on screen long enough to cause an epileptic seizure and then spontaneously disappear.

This film is rubbish. Levy apparently worked on the film for over seven years, with the inspiration coming from the lead singer, Damon Albarn. One wonders if the film was over worked during those seven years, or just never really got started on in the first place. The director presents the band members in a manner that seems true to life, but their behavior is so juvenile that even a ten year old should be embarrassed to see this film. After the first ten-minute flatulence joke, I realized that the film is nearly impossible to sit through, and only by the strongest act of will was I able force myself to wait before running at the roll of the credits. I give Bananaz a half star. I mean, they signed their name to it, and that’s got to be worth something, right?