University of Virginia Library

Film Review

'Woodstock': Contemporary Epic

By Paul Chaplin
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

"A happy, joyous, musical,
muddy weekend, when the outside
world thought we were having a
disaster, and we knew that we were
having no such thing." Naturally,
the preceding statement refers to
Warner Brothers contemporary
epic, "Woodstock." It seems superfluous
to write a film review about
"Woodstock," for what director
Michael Wadleigh has assembled is
not a film, nor a documentary. This
is a three hour promotional marathon
of musical entertainment.

Wadleigh begins his epic by
showing the confusion which ruled
over the festival site as it gradually
became obvious that more than ten
thousand people were swarming
into the mountain countryside.
During these opening scenes, Wadleigh
dabbles with the sociological
aspects of having 400,000 high-spirited
youths extend their free
life style to Bethel, New York,
Fortunately, not much footage is
devoted to interviews, except for
the touching conversation with a
couple who are out to find the
meaning of life.

Once such preliminaries are out
of the way, "Woodstock" settles
down to its only asset-the entertainment.
Most acts are able to
transcend the confines of their
limited exposure in the film. The
performances of many of the
groups we see were the climaxes of
sets lasting some three hours. That
the performances come across so
well is a credit to the imaginative
editing of 35 millimeter films onto
a 70 millimeter screen.

For sheer beauty, no act in
the film could fare with the angelic
talents of Joan Baez singing "Joe
Hill." Explosive rock was best
presented by Ten Years After, Santana,
and Sly and the Family Stone.
The late Jimi Hendrix was also
featured performing his super heavy
version of the Star Spangled Banner,
while The Who gave an athletic
interpretation of "Summer Time
Blues."

One of the expendable features
of the film is the Richie Havens set,
with an exciting angle shot of the
performer's left foot. Such masterful
uses of the close-up have been
absent from the screen since
"Camelot," when Vanessa Redgrave
exhibited her eye teeth while kissing
Franco Nero. It is highly
unusual to see Steve Stills and John
Sebastian admit to being hung
upside-down and overwhelmed by
the sheer presence of the audience.

Arlo Guthrie, Joe Cocker, and
Sha-Na-Na also perform in the
film, and Janis Joplin has a brief
cameo role as a performer who is
amazed at the size of the crowd.
Imagine how much more interesting
the film would have been if Wadleigh
could have shown Canned
Heat, the Band, Paul Butterfield, or
Jefferson Airplane. Perhaps even
better than more groups would
have been the early morning jams
such as C,S,N,Y, et al, joined by
John Sebastian.

But undoubtedly the most hype
feature of the film was Country Joe
and the Fish, encouraging everyone
at Woodstock, and viewing "Woodstock",
to sing along with them in
"I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag."
It was just like Mitch Miller: self-hypnosis
watching that little bobbing
white ball. This is what so
many people came for-the thrill of
actually being at Woodstock—the
excitement of participating in three
days of love, peace, and music
neatly compressed into three hours
of film.

But "Woodstock" is more than a
mere phenomenon. It is, according
to Warner Brothers, "a screen celebration
to the Aquarian Age," and
"one of the all-time great shows in
rock music screen history." Without
this film, many people would
be unable to taste the Dionysian
delights of the youth sub-culture,
and discover the feeling that was
exclusive to Woodstock.

In Washington, D.C., at the
Cerebus Theatre, you can see the
valuable effect this film has on a
typical "lost generation" couple: he
with his neat razor-cut hairstyle,
freshly pressed "bell-bottom trousers,"
and paisley body shirt; she
with her Day-Glo red pants suit,
gingerly putting a jeweled roach
clip into her Zodiac satchel. The
people emerge from the theatre
proclaiming they have a deeper
understanding of American youth,
a greater love of mankind, and
respect for the Woodstock Era.
Right Off!

(Now at the Cinema)