Andrew Gillingham | Banana / 2017

heartbreak in bananaland

by Douglas Messerli

 

Hayley Gauvin, Andrew Gillingham, Daniel Jeffery (screenplay), Andrew Gillingham (director) Banana / 2017 [14 minutes]

 

Charlie (Ryan Jinn) is uncomfortable with on-line dating, particular his new on-line dating service Banana, which he finds to be more about being liked (somewhat like Facebook) than consisting of men who are truly interested in a relationship. Moreover, the man he truly has a crush on is his friend, Zach (Jacob Woike), in whose apartment he spends most of his time sleeping on his couch.

    In the first frames of Canadian director Andrew Gillingham’s short film, in fact, Charlie and Zach seem to be hitting it off really well, as Zach compliments the way Charlie looks, suggests that instead of complaining about Banana that he really seek out a true relationship, and readily agrees to go to the gay bar with him that evening in cute matching costumes of red overalls. It’s to us, if not to Zach, as Charlie looks over at his friends naked torso, that he has a great deal of sexual interest in his friend.

    Checking out his Banana site, Charlie receives a message from a former friend Liam (Adam Allsop), “Hey!”; and almost as he’s speaking, Zach connects up with Liam, asking what he’s doing that evening.

      Zach, we soon perceive is not truly on Charlie’s wave length. As Charlie looks over the landscape from Zach’s balcony, responding “It’s so pretty,” Zach, busy once more on his cellphone, responds “Who?” Liam, meanwhile, messages back, “Nothing, wanna hang out.” So much for Charlie’s plans.

      Dressing up in his cute costume, he discovers Liam in the living room with Zach. Not taking a clue about the intention of his visit, Charlie interrupts by at one point sitting between the two, and finally begins to actively interfere with meet-up, suggesting he call a cab, that Zach put his overalls on, etc. When Liam actually begins to rub Zach’s thighs, Charlie demands to talk to Zach separately, Zach suggesting it’s rather rude, and Charlie reacting with a comeback, “You’re being rude.” Zach suggests Charlie stop drinking, that his face is red, Charlie immediately interrupting the statement as being racist.

 

     As things escalate, Liam leaves, feeling it’s definitely not the right time to be visiting Zach, and unable to discern precisely what his relationship is to Charlie. And finally, Zach tells Charlie to leave, to which Charlie reacts even more abusively. Zach chases after Liam, Charlie trying to message him that he’s sorry and recognizes that he “fucked up.”

      Charlie packs his bag. But he waits until Zach finally returns. This time Zach really orders Charlie out of his house, but Charlie refuses to go until they resolve the situation, declaring that he had invited Liam over simply prove that Liam desired him more than with Charlie, a truly paranoid delusion on Charlie’s part. Charlie finally admits that it’s hard for him to date, to see guys, to have casual sex, insisting that Zach has it so much easier. He finally admits, moreover, that he loves Zach, and that his jealousy is due to that fact.

       When Zach, in all honesty, admits that he just doesn’t feel the same thing for Charlie. Charlie, in tears, grabs his bag and leaves. End of film.

       I imagine that Gillingham and his two writers felt they were simply expressing the truth of such situations, where one friend has an infatuation that other simply doesn’t share. And, if gay short films are any evidence, it’s a fairly common situation, often ending in a sad outcome.

     But there still seems something terribly unsatisfying about this short film, which ends, quite intentionally, without resolution. We all know there often isn’t any resolution and that fiction is not the same as life. But still, we feel for the desire to see, at least, that Charlie finds a place to crash for the night. Perhaps because we know so little about these characters, we wonder whether or not he will even survive. Does Zach care enough, as a friend, to seek him out and offer him a friendship without delusions. Does Charlie have someone else to whom he might reach out? Does he even have a job? If you’re going to present realism, one need to present more realist facts in order help the audience to understand that the story we are being told really matters. Ultimately, we feel cheated, as the character obviously does on his forays into Bananaland.

 

Los Angeles, March 9, 2024

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (March 2024).