director michael sarne would have the filmgoing public believe that the studio and the actor ( in myra breckinridge in particular ) and and the system torpedo his career . but and when one see his single picture of note and joanna and on the big screen in a rare public show one discovers that the film world do not lose much . composer rod mckuen attend this weekend american cinemateque screening and reveal that the title character be a thinly autobiographical substitute for the director himself ( joanna surname be sarne after all ) . on paper and it would seem to make an exciting story young and handsome teen come to london while dress in chic fashion while hang out with the in crowd while have sex with every other person one meet while party every night while travel to exotic land etc . how odd then that so much of the film wanders around aimlessly from venue to venue and from person to person and from incident to incident with so little meaning or consequence . it rare that someone would find his own life so aimless . that aimlessness be certainly a part of what sarne be after and but almost certainly not to the degree portray here . to be fair and there be flash of genuine artistic talent ( and some can be mine from myra breckinridge as well ) . the opening and closing title sequence be terrific and playful and inspire . color and sound and edit be experimentmented with in interest way . a long sojourn to morocco be both colorful and meaningful . the middle of the picture be indeed dominate by donald sutherland a a rich dude who take joanna and some friend to africa . affect a bizarre stuttering accent and one can not help but be entertain and even if one suspect that much of the reaction of modern audience be the result of familiarity with sutherland more than the skill of the performance ( indeed mckuen insist that sutherland accent come and go so frequently that much of his performance have to be edit around and drown in his music . ) . certainly an interesting document of it time ( with the hock inclusion of not one but two interracial romance and free sex and and the intrusion of unnecessary violence into young people live a nod to vietnam . ) and joanna be a fascinating failure .