Delayed Reaction: Woodstock

Premise: An exhaustive documentary about all that was going on during the original Woodstock.

 

The most incredible thing about Woodstock, the documentary, is that it exists. The Woodstock festival ended up being one of the defining cultural events of the 20th century. I say this even with a hesitation about Boomer mythologizing. It was a huge event and became the defining event of a generation. Now, how often does an event like that have a professional film crew covering it from beginning to end with nearly unlimited access? Repeatedly, while watching this, I was impressed with the foresight Michael Wadleigh and his crew had to catch certain moments or get so much coverage for others. Think about all the great documentaries you've seen that had to reuse the same grainy footage or even reenact scenes. It cool to watch something that was on the ground and ready.

 

Now, let's be honest, there's a symbiotic relationship going on here. Part of reason the legend of Woodstock grew was because of how well it was captured in the documentary. The reason the documentary is such an exhaustive account is because the interest in the Woodstock event has led to numerous re-edits and remasters. Woodstock wouldn't be what it is now without the documentary and the documentary wouldn't be what it is now without the interest in Woodstock.

This documentary is grueling in length at around 3h45m. This isn't a movie you can decide to watch on a whim. You must dedicate a night to it. I've been putting it off for months for exactly that reason. The performances are great. The documentary does an excellent job showing what it was like there. Perhaps it glosses over some of the roughest elements, but even just from what is included in the movie, Woodstock looks like a nightmare that I wouldn't've wanted to participate in at any age. Even with the punishing length, the editing is pretty great. I was impressed by all the ways they found to shoot the different performances so that they didn't all look the same. I do wish I would've seen this movie when I was a little younger though. It was depressing how often my thoughts during the movie began with "these kids".

 

For anyone who is a fan of the 60s counter-culture, this is an essential text. I don't know that it says anything though that hasn't seeped into the cultural consciousness in other ways. This is the Woodstock you've always heard about. (I sort of wish I'd just watched the original, shorter cut though)

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend