In order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of what is arguably the most important concert experience of the 20th century (more for what it represented perhaps than just a rockin' event), Warner Brothers is releasing several editions of the 1970 Oscar award winning Best Documentary from filmmaker Michael Wadleigh.
The impressively in-depth undertaking by Wadleigh and his crew (which consisted of future Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese and Scorsese's long-time Oscar winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker) chronicled the August 15 to the 18th, 1969 festival.
While most "concert movies" focus purely on the music with maybe a few backstage conversations mixed in for good measure-- Wadleigh's film is an all-encompassing portrait of the experience and one that should be treated as a valuable historical and sociological time capsule.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
In the creation of the work, they incorporate a style that was indicative of the time by breaking up the footage into numerous split screens and using interesting forward-thinking editing techniques to cut the music in with the audience to show the way it not only provided the soundtrack for the lives of a generation but the mutual way the musicians and attendees fed off the energy of one another.
While admittedly it's quite dated and a bit on the long side at times so much so that especially now given this even longer director's cut, the endlessly drawn out sequences make you feel as though you've been watching it all unfold for seventy-two hours as we spend far too much time milling in the audience rather than witnessing the phenomenal performances of the musicians.
When you couple this with an overwhelmingly gratuitous emphasis on nude young women that reminded me of the lusty camera fixation of American Bandstand showing that both counter and popular culture shared the same idea of objectification of women, the documentary treated solely as a film experience is one that definitely tests the patience of viewers who-- much like the attendees-- at times wanted less time spent bathing in lakes and more of the music.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
Still, much to the film's credit, the crew members investigate the impact of the event on the local community, interviewing residents of Bethel, New York and the attendees, objectively inquiring about the financial profits of the organizers and the creativity that emerged from the chaos to fascinating effect.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
In doing so, they take an exploratory approach to studying 1969's Woodstock which found more than a half million citizens arriving in the rural community of New York's town of Bethel to witness over 30 musical acts. Far from being just the silly one-dimensional flower-children most people spoof when making commentaries on the '60s, one must truly admire the way that they braved the daunting elements of frequent rains, mud, the sheer overwhelming (and nearly claustrophobia inducing) cluster of people, lack of food, adequate shelter and enough restroom facilities.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
And likewise the movie highlights the unsung heroes of the townspeople who fed the visitors, doctors who drove in for free to help out from the tri-state area, and the organizers who announced warnings and emergency pages and notices over the loudspeaker. Why all the hassle, one might ask and the answer is still remarkably humanistic in trying to prove to the world that their generation was capable of getting together peacefully in celebration, against the war, but with respect for the differences of their neighbors and the soldiers shipping off to Vietnam.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
Of course, more than anything, Woodstock was known for not just the sheer size of the crowd but the sheer talent of its extraordinary line-up as some iconic imagery of Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" has become nearly as referenced as footage of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon during the exact same year.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
And although he's easily the standout act, I was especially impressed by the way that a young Joe Cocker threatened to sing until his vocal chords bled as he covered The Beatles' "With A Little Help from My Friends." Additionally it's fun to see Pete Townshend's early windmill guitar motion as The Who helped ensure the crowd was above all remembering to have fun with "Summertime Blues" and the way that in the lengthy introduction to Santana, the unsung drummer finally gets the chance to prove to the world he's as integral to the band as Carlos Santana's famous guitar chops. However, most surprisingly-- this time around I became an instant fan of a band I'd never heard of--Ten Years After-- as they closed out the first DVD with the astounding "I'm Going Home."
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
While I'd seen the film previously-- it's been so long that I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference in the versions or in their visual or audio presentation despite the fact that it's an "all new remastered edition" yet this could be because I just witnessed the Director's Cut DVD that Warner Brothers was kind enough to send my way.
Still of interest obviously-- yet unfortunately I can't gauge the necessity of the new release but have read great things about the new all-encompassing huge, limited-edition DVD or Blu-ray specially packaged and numbered sets that include memorabilia, tons of extra performances, new documentaries and interviews.
(c) 1969 Michael Lang/Henry Diltz
However, this disc did boast one new tour of The Museum at Bethel Woods which purports to tell you the story of both Woodstock and the '60s. Yet, unfortunately as it only clocks in at just a precious few minutes-- if you already own Woodstock in another version, you may want to just give this one a rental or make the big move to a more extravagant set to experience something truly worth the investment.
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