Homegrown - Quirky Tales was an event held at the Academy Cinema in Auckland, it was described as a "spicy mix of funny and imaginative stories that span animation, documentary and experimental genres."This event was made up of a series of short films so I will tackle this review by talking about my favourite from the selection entitled "Fruitless Journey". Written by Jeremy Herbert and directed by Jodie Stack this 12 minute film told about the journey of a banana who was proudly taken to the South Pole as food for the expedition of Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
What makes this film interesting is that it actually retells the fateful journey that had Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his expedition crew try to be the first team to reach the South Pole but instead saw them die in the attempt. In 'Fruitless Journey' however this tragic story is told with such spunk and good humour that it is truly captivating and the unlikely character (the banana) wins the hearts of all in the audience.
Set in the fruit crate of the expedition and narrated by 'banana' the story is told from an interesting perspective quite unlike that of any other film I have seen, the narrative includes the proud destiny of banana to be consumed by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, his love affair with 'navel' and his intense disappointment as he ages without being consumed.
This film is incredibly clever as it utilises a truly unique perspective, it also manages to be accessible to all because of the clever nature of the story telling. I especially enjoyed the fruit orientated humour and judging by the laughter from the audience I was not the only one. The ending of the film in my opinion did leave something to be desired however, in the last minutes of the film the aesthetic changed somewhat and there was replacement of Captain Robert Falcon Scott with an animal that represented an ape, this change in the narrative was quite confusing and jolting for the audience however I accept that as an experimental film it is safe to expect the unexpected.
This film works on the level of simply challenging what we consider as a character, the level of rapport and emotional connection we formed with banana through this film was quite extraordinary as a piece of fruit wouldn't frequently be considered a character let alone one that we are attached to. This experimental film was well worth watching as a piece of home grown cinema and a film from a fresh perspective.
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