Review of Taking Woodstock (2009) by Amy M — 07 Feb 2010

3: Having never seen Wadleigh's "Woodstock" documentary, I'd say this is probably the right approach to the event. Taking a wider view, as opposed to this fairly intimate and peripheral one, probably would have led to an unfocused and bloated picture.

The picture is almost completely focused on Demetri Martin's character. He's on screen almost the entire film and does a creditable, if unspectacular, job of carrying it. It's a fascinating story filled with interesting characters.

It does seem odd that the Moon landing would have been just another insignificant event for the people involved with setting up this massive event. Another thing that struck me is that perhaps every age seems to be fraught with perils and full of slaughter.

The radio and tv braodcasts overheard in the film don't seem that different from today's. Perhaps there is nothing new under the sun and we aren't really becoming an increasingly fractured society.

The story provides a perspective one wouldn't often consider about this seminal hippie free love event. To realize that the event was actually put on by suits and lawyers attempting to make a buck is an interesting notion.

One could argue that it transcended this beginning and grew to something more, but either way it makes for a great story. Still, the fact that its a bunch of white tennagers getting together for sex, drugs, and rock n roll makes one pause and consider.

I also wondered where all these kids came from, what their parents were like, and how many of them came from households like Don Draper's (Mad Men). As interesting as the concert and movement was, how important and history altering was it? One could argue it changed the shape of American, and world, history by forcing the U.

S. to abandon the Vietnam War, but hell, we had to leave eventually anyway. Complex and touching. It made me want to watch Forrest Gump next.