tomistree

Have you ever seen the flower of a banana tree? 

A few days ago I went to the movies. One of those early summer days. We grabbed our bicycles and drove to the nearest movie theatre. That kind that only opens during the summer months cause it’s outside at the back wall of a building. Just some kind of space; between industrial buildings no one knows the original purpose of. Humbly curated plastic chairs in rows in front of the wall. Lemonade and beer offered by the very put-together-bar. Wrapped in cheap blankets on the cheap plastic chairs – one for each our butts and one for our feet – in the last row. Equipped with snacks secretly brought from home. The blue hour had just began and so the lights were dimmed and the movie was about to begin. An animated movie with the title FLOW was on the schedule and I knew noting about it, so there were no expectations. Even if I had expectations, this was something else. The well played art of animation made me forget that it was actually animated. The journey of a cat in a world left behind by humans. Something like an apocalyptic condition or a fight back of nature long after humans were wiped out. The cat finding its way through an overwhelming mess of challenges such as moving waters, barking dogs and other potential dangers. Touching moments of friendship between a bird and the cat. A journey of a cat learning to swim. Loneliness or care, peace or hazard, nature as a frightening but magical place too. Loss and companionship. All these emotions you don’t think to be felt by these animals. All this tension you don’t expect to be shown simply by moving drawings and sound. No talking. No humans. Just colors, excellently placed into movement and music. 

In one scene there was a banana tree appearing at the coast in front of the boat. A dark red blossom – two times bigger than a human head – like a crown on the tree. So beautiful and majestic you might think that this is the point of the story, where it becomes clear that this might be fantasy. But no, I suddenly recall a memory, I knew this is rare but real. During the time I studied in Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara Barat), I had a very small and very simple house in the middle of a very small and very simple fishermen village. Everything was so tight and lively. On my small and simple terrace I could see across the narrow alley the wall of the next house. Behind the not very high wall there was a little garden space. A big tree rising behind the wall, huge trunks of bananas growing bigger with each day. One day a red blossom appeared. Growing fast as well. Bigger and bigger and I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe that we know the fruit but we rarely know the blossom. On day it opened and how lucky I felt to see this beautiful thing in probably the poorest and from the outside most unappealing village of the area. How people made faces when they found out where I stayed. Little did they know that I had the rare view of a huge red banana blossom. Little did they know that kids were always around. Little did they know that I was always invited for coffee by my neighbors – no matter how poor someone might consider them. And little did they know that all the stray cats visited me every day to eat and rest. They kept coming back to me – just like the cat in the movie that kept finding its way back to safety.

The official name of the banana tree is Musa Acuminata, by the way, and the movie was made by Gint Zilbalodis. You should watch it and pay extra attention to the blossom of the Musa Acuminata.