Review of Taking Woodstock (2009) by Jany — 28 Aug 2009

Just by looking at the film's title, it's as clear as daylight to see that the film is really not about the actual Woodstock concert! It's amazing that it has to take a Taiwanese Director to offer us Americans an insight to how the Woodstock Music and Arts Destival was taken from Walkill to Bethal.

Ang Lee's film brings the characters in Eliot Tiber's book to life on-screening, exactly the way I had perceived the characters in the book. Even Imelda Staunton's Sonia is as weird, ill-bred, and manipulative as the book's character.

While the book is congested with an abundance of events surrounding the childhood and adult life of Elliot Tiber aka Elli Teichberg, I am thankful for the adherence of the film story to events of Tiber associated to the origination of the festival.

I would recommend Tiber's book to be read before seeing the film, and be alerted to the understanding that the film's characters are pretty much based on real characters, described by Tiber of himself and those who were around him or were involved in taking the Woodstock festival to Bethal.

As a film based on Tiber's book of the same title, I was not in the least bit disappointed. The actors played their parts to a tee, not missing out on the personalities and traits of their role characters.