Dir. H.P. Mendoza. US, 2009. 94 min.
Bursting onto the screen in a vibrancy of sound, colour and heart, H.P. Mendoza’s synth pop musical is one of the freshest, wittiest and most infectious movies of the year.
Fruit Fly is set in San Fransisco, location being important with the movie’s theme of finding our place in the world. The story’s protagonist and our passport into Mendoza’s electric world is a young, Asian American woman called Bethesda (Beth to her friends). We find her as she returns from The Philippines after a journey there to locate her birth parents, her adoptive parents having passed away.
She was only half successful, finding the grave of her father, while her mother’s whereabouts are unknown. Her fractured sense of family and search for an identity have inspired the artist to create a performance piece entitled ‘A Work In Progress,’ which she hopes to stage in her new home town.
We are quickly introduced to Beth’s new roommates at the hip artist commune she moves into: Windham is an outgoing, gay set designer; painter Karen and actress Sharon are lovers and last but not least is teen runaway Jacob who’s searching for his voice.
The movie whisks us along with some inspired electro musical numbers – particularly one called ‘We Are The Hag’ and hilarious gay cruising duet ‘We Have So Much In Common’ – as we follow Beth’s ups and downs as she gets to know her new friends, meets an admirer and attempts to stage her one-woman show. A serendipitous visit to an antiques shop with Windham also leads her to a photograph which she believes is a clue to her origins.
But Beth’s search for her mother is really just a red herring – this is soap opera of the finest order; Tales of the City meets Moulin Rouge! Mendoza – who not only acts in his movie as a gay friend to Beth, but writes and records the music too – is eminently gifted at combining song, humour, melodrama and striking visuals, all weaved into a glorious fabric which cloaks the narrative – I’d love for him to create a TV show; he has a natural instinct for entertainment and knows how to leave you wanting more.
The cast of Fruit Fly are great, top down. L.A. Renigen is a real find as Beth, bringing a sweetness and insecurity to the part, while some of the supporting characters nearly steal the show, including Beth’s deadpan landlord, Tracy, and her neurotic aunt. But the biggest supporting character is San Francisco itself and Fruit Fly feels like a love letter to the city – a toe-tapping song and dance number sings the virtues of the city’s transport system.
I thoroughly enjoyed stepping into H.P. Mendoza’s vibrant world for 90 minutes and I highly recommend you go watch Fruit Fly – you’ll be smiling for a week.
Fruit Fly is available on DVD from October.
