The Strawberry Statement (1970)

Directed by

Stuart Hagmann

Genre

drama film, comedy drama, romance film, coming-of-age film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 49m

Rated

16

Rating

5.9 of 10 from 42 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A lazy college student gets pulled into student protests at a San Francisco university in the 1960s. He becomes increasingly committed to the cause as tensions build over the school's segregated gymnasium.

nostalgicbittersweetenergeticunevendatedearnestmelancholicepisodic

What happens

The Strawberry Statement is a 1970 American comedy-drama directed by Stuart Hagmann, loosely based on the non-fiction account that James Kunen wrote about the 1968 Columbia University protests. Set against the backdrop of 1960s counterculture, the film follows Simon, an initially apathetic college student at a fictional San Francisco university, as he becomes involved in campus demonstrations opposing the construction of a segregated gymnasium. Produced during a time of social upheaval, the film blends fictional storytelling with documentary-style elements, featuring a soundtrack emblematic of the era, including songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Joni Mitchell. While it won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, the film polarized critics and underperformed commercially, with many critiquing its stylized direction and commercial tone. Over time, however, it has gained retrospective recognition as a cultural artifact, offering a snapshot of the aspirations and contradictions of 1960s youth movements. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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