American Pastime
credits:
Director: Desmond NakanoProducers: Tom Gorai, Barry Rosenbush, Terry Spazek
Writers: Tony Kayden, Desmond Nakano
Cast: Gary Cole, Masatoshi Nakamura, Aaron Yoo, Judy Ongg
World Premiere
USA 2007 | 102 mins | HDCAM | English, Japanese w/E.S.
IN PERSON (at select screenings): Desmond Nakano, Kerry Nakagawa, Barry Rosenbush, Mark Yoshikawa
This inspiring drama by director Desmond Nakano (WHITE MAN’S BURDEN) intertwines two great American pastimes: baseball and war. Set during World War II, it follows two families, the Nomuras and the Burrells, whose fates collide at the Topaz internment camp. Camp guard Billy Burrell, a frustrated minor league catcher, antagonizes restless young Lyle Nomura (newcomer Aaron Yoo), a star pitcher who left behind a college scholarship when he was interned. Tensions escalate quickly when Lyle strikes up a romance with Burrell’s daughter, a music instructor at the camp. In a gesture of goodwill, Lyle’s father proposes a game between Burrell’s team and the internees, a contest that tests the limits of the town’s tolerance, and reveals a deeper conflict—and triumph—at the heart of American society.
With crisp cinematography and an exacting eye for period detail, AMERICAN PASTIME paints an authentic picture of the injustices and indignities of camp life even as it affirms the democratic joys of baseball. It gracefully captures this astonishing contradiction in one of the most complex cinematic depictions of Japanese American life to date. Underscored by nuanced performances by Gary Cole (THE WEST WING) as Burrell and famed Japanese actor Masatoshi Nakamura as Lyle’s father Kaz, the film celebrates the deep-rooted belief in humanity that enabled a people treated so poorly by the U.S. to cling so faithfully to the American dream.
—Sharon Mizota
