The Strawberry Statement (1970)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Stuart Hagmann

Writers:

James Kunen (novel)
Israel Horovitz (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 June 1970 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Their dream was to go to college.

Plot:

Simon is a student at a college in San Francisco. He is content to be on the rowing team and remain as just a casual observer to the on-campus unrest...

Plot Keywords:

Student | Rowing | Protest | Brief Female Nudity | Activist

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Bruce Davison	...	Simon
Kim Darby	...	Linda
Bud Cort	...	Elliot - Coxswain
Murray MacLeod	...	George
Tom Foral	...	Coach
Bob Balaban	...	Elliot - Organizer
Michael Margotta	...	Swatch
Israel Horovitz	...	Dr. Benton
James Kunen	...	Chairman
Jeannie Berlin	...	Girl with clipboard
Carol Bagdasarian	...	Girl on telephone
Jon Hill	...	Student
Jess Walton	...	Student
Andrew Parks	...	Student
Kristin Van Buren	...	Girl in Filing Room

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:18 | Spain:18 | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Culver City Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The film was originally to be shot on Columbia University's campus. However, Columbia withdrew their offer and the crew moved to Berkeley instead. The book had not gained notoriety yet and Berkeley was more or less in the dark about the content of the film and what events the director would be staging on the campus. This explains the tongue-in-cheek scrolling "thank-you-to-Berkeley" title card scrolling in the opening of the film.

Quotes:

Girl in Filing Room: [after exposing her breasts to Simon] Did you know Lenin loved women with big breasts?

Movie Connections:

References The Graduate (1967)

Soundtrack:

Our House

A dated movie which still stirs us deeply

Those were the days.1968 had happened and the times they were changing.

A girl: "why didn't we protest before?

another girl: "we did not know."

"That time long ago when we thought our youth was eternal and the rebels were fighting in the mountains "

The story of a twenty-year old young man who worked hard to go to college and then discovers that the world he wants to get into is worthless.Like in the magnificent Joni Mitchell song (sung by Indian singer (and activist) Buffy Sainte -Marie which opens and closes the movie),Simon is "captive on the carousel of time ,where the little horses go up and down".His tiny apartment is a time capsule: the "2001:a space odyssey" soundtrack, a photograph of Robert Kennedy,and Neil Young's "down by the river" .

"The strawberry statement" could be subtitled "lost illusions ";the incident in the park was a real eye-opener;it's the failure of non-violence;that the "hero" should be "rewarded" for having been beaten up by the cops -whereas he was assaulted by one of his mates in the showers- clearly indicates that it's no use singing "give peace a chance" For those who lived through those troubled times and who did not realize they were "helpless" (like Neil Young sings in his classic also included in the soundtrack),"the strawberry statement" will remind them of that time when we could imagine that we were a brother hood of men and that strikes and songs and demonstrations could save the world.

Like this? try these....

"Alice's restaurant" by Arthur Penn

"Harold and Maud" by Hal Ashby(also featuring Bud Cort)

"Taking off" by Milos Forman