The most controversial and talked about Swedish movie of the year has finally opened. Nope, it's not yet another cop drama à la the Wallander or the Millennium series, but Fredrik Gertten's documentary BANANAS!* (which hasn't anything at all to do with the Woody Allen movie).
     Loads and loads have been written about BANANAS!* although few people have seen it this far. But everybody's aware of the fuss Gertten and his WG Film have created - they ended up getting sued by gigantic American company Dole, who not only asks for millions of dollars for "bad mouthing" them, but also managed to stop the movie from being screened in competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Eventually, the film was screened there to rave reviews, albeit out of competition.
    So, what is BANANAS!*? How come Dole wants Fredrik Gertten's head?
    The movie is mainly about some poor villagers in Nicaragua who used to work in Dole's banana plantations, and who now have found out they are sterile. This is because of up until circa 1980, Dole used to spray their plantations with a chemical called DBCP, which was produced by Dow Chemicals. In 1977 they discovered that DBCP caused sterility, cancer, kidney problems, you name it, and the substance was banned in most countries. Dow stopped manufacturing it and asked Dole to return what was left. But lo and behold, Dole didn't want to do that! Fully aware of the dangers of the chemical, Dole continued using it and even demanded to be supplied with more of it! They literally squeezed the last drops out of the containers.
    The villagers hired the colorful Los Angeles lawyer Juan J. Dominguez, who has specialized in helping poor, defenseless people - Dominguez doesn't charge them and he only makes money when he wins a case, at least that's what he claims in this film. Dominguez gets his best man, Duane Miller, on the case, and then the courtroom drama begins. It's the poor villagers versus Dole's powerful suits.
    Nearly 50% of BANANAS!* consists of the trial, filmed with the courtroom's static cameras, and it actually gets pretty thrilling following the case. The man who's defending Dole is apparently some kind of a legend, it's a guy you can't push around - but the thing is, that the evidence Duane Miller presents is waterproof. Dole has used the dangerous chemical, something even Dole's head honcho admits. No matter if the poor farmers actually became sterile from working in the plantation or not, you can't deny the fact that Dole used DBCP - and this does of course not look very good for the company.
    After the movie was completed, sent to the L.A. Film Festival and accepted, people began questioning Juan Dominguez and his methods, whether he told the workers to lie in court or not. And Dole sued Gertten for slander. But! It doesn't matter! Once again: Dole used a dangerous poison and it's well documented. It's no slander campaign from Gertten, he just shows what happened, and as far as I know, Gertten is no Michael Moore, who manipulates the truth in his "documentaries".
    Okay, but how's the parts of BANANAS!* that don't take place in court? It's pretty decent. Gertten and his team stay in the background and let the people and the surroundings do the talking. As often is the case with Gertten's films, the cinematography is rather nice - and as often is the case with his films, it sometimes tends to get a tad draggy. This may be because of Nathan Larson's (husband of Nina Persson of The Cardigans) sleepy, slightly pretentious music. Maybe the film would've been better with no music at all.
    I was pleasantly surprised by BANANAS!* and enjoyed it. I understand why Swedish hamburger joint Max cancelled their deal with Dole after this controversy, I would have done the same. And I must say I really liked Juan Dominguez's tasteless office!
    ...So, when can we expect a cheap cash-in about Chiquita?