Clumsy performances and snail's pacing mark this early '70s set film centering on Irene (Suzy Nakamura), a 16-year-old Japanese-American pyromaniac, who, after the death of her younger sister, becomes obsessed with the issue of the Japanese internment during WWII. After her rebelliousness rents her family and sends her father packing, Irene and her patient saint of a boyfriend Luke (James Sie) ostensibly head for a new life in San Francisco, but end up on a detour to the internment site where Irene embarks upon "a determined search for the truth that will set her free." Director Rea Tajiri has a promising visual and narrative style, but her efforts are undermined by a feckless lead performance by Nakamura and mercilessly banal dialogue. At one point near the end, Irene, in an unmanageable bout of both frustration and boredom, drives her pickup truck round and round in circles in the middle of the desert: viewers will likely sympathize. Not recommended. (S. C. Sickles)
Strawberry Fields
Vanguard, 86 min., not rated, VHS: $79.95, DVD: $29.95 Vol. 16, Issue 1
Strawberry Fields
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