The Fruit Hunters

The Fruit Hunters is a 2012 feature documentary film about exotic fruit cultivators and preservationists. It is directed by Yung Chang and co-written by Chang and Mark Slutsky, and inspired by Adam Leith Gollner's 2008 book of the same name.[1][2]

Bill Pullman

In addition to documentary sequences, the film also uses CGI animation, models and performers to stage real and imagined moments in the history of fruit.[3]

Film subjects

Subjects in the film include actor Bill Pullman, who was not featured in Gollner's book. The filmmakers became aware of his interest in fruit thanks to a 2009 New York Times profile. The film follows Pullman's efforts to develop a communal orchard near his Hollywood Hills residence.[1]

Two staff members of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden are shown exploring jungles in Asia and South America in search of plants to graft and preserve.[2]

The Fruit Hunters also features a Honduran scientist trying to find an alternative to the Cavendish banana, an Italian cultivator who studies Renaissance paintings to identify new varieties, and an indigenous guide in Borneo.[1]

Development and production

The idea for The Fruit Hunters was first pitched at a forum at Hot Docs, utilizing footage with Bill Pullman. The National Film Board of Canada and EyeSteelFilm agreed to co-produce the film, which also has funding from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Telefilm Canada and SODEC.[1]

Chang, Slutsky and Gollner were friends before working on the film, having once lived in the same building in Montreal.[4]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 7 critics, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[5]

Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post said that "Hearing the personalities describe the transcendent tastes of different fruits has me wanting to hop the next plane to Hawaii just to taste a water apple".[6]

According to Daphne Howland of The Village Voice, the film have "many haphazard details and much talk of obsession", while "the lush work by cinematographer Mark Ellam is something of a guide, sensuous and outstanding".[7] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called the documentary "Delicious".[8]

References
  1. Barna, Daniel (November 30, 2012). "The Canadian climate: bad for fruit, good for documentaries". Maclean's. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  2. Burgess, Steve (December 7, 2012). "The Fruit Hunters". The Tyee. Vancouver. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  3. Eisner, Ken (December 6, 2012). "The Fruit Hunters makes a juicy case against monoculture". Georgia Straight. Vancouver. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  4. "The Fruit Hunters at the Bloor". Point of View. Documentary Organization of Canada. November 26, 2012.
  5. "The Fruit Hunters (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  6. O'Sullivan, Michael; Hornaday, Ann; Merry, Stephanie (July 23, 2013). "Watch online: 'Devil You Know', 'The Typewriter', 'The Fruit Hunters'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  7. Howland, Daphne (May 10, 2013). "The Fruit Hunters Sports Luscious Produce". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  8. DeFore, John (May 15, 2013). "The Fruit Hunters: Film Review". Retrieved July 9, 2021.
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