Woodstock

This movie gives an documentary type version insight of the era through first hand accounts and original footage of the concert and crowd.

The story leading up to the concert and what happened each day takes the viewer back to experience those times.

Compliments the original concert version and movie version of the events.

I saw this on the big screen, as part of Toronto Hot Docs' Woodstock 50th anniversary series. It started before the concert idea even came about, showed the then-cultural situation in the U.S., and the scrambling just before and during the festival itself.

I was promised a behind-the-scenes documentary, and there was lots of it, with enough snippets of music for a nice diversion. By using archival footage and photographs, the director brilliantly avoided using talking heads. Given that everyone involved is now in their 70's, this allowed us to just see the young people of that time, freezing their images of a magical, if brief, period.

But ive always wished i was there. therefore its good that there are people daring to make a good documentary about the august days of 1969 in bethel new york where love peace and music and hamp were joined together in a psychedelic climax of problem soluting, and where people were able to be human to other humans.

ive seen a lot of woodstock presentations earlier, have seen most of the concert film takes, and come to the conclusion that this was very well made.the grumpy old man is in the nostalgic corner so bare with me, the only thing missing is the lack of will to show the faces of the people narrating this film.

I managed to catch this on PBS. A totally unique and absorbing presentation.

I was "of Woodstock age", but in 1969 I had just finished my Masters, was married with a child on the way, and was just starting my career with a job in S. Illinois. I knew about Woodstock but back then it was not my kind of thing, not a concert I would have ever gone to.

Now, 50 years later and my daughter about to turn 50, it is great to get a complete view of what it was all about. The organizers had no idea what they were getting into. They hoped for as many as 50,000, they got closer to a half million attendees. They lined up great musical performers, that part was done very well. But ...

Barely a month before the festival, with land leased and construction of the venue in progress, the local community hurriedly passed a law that essentially prohibited that type of festival. They scrambled and found a different, and much better, piece of land but really didn't have time to construct everything they needed, including fences, so ultimately it became a mostly free festival.

With roads clogged, military helicopters were put into service to bring in performers and certain supplies. Then there was the issue of toilets, water, and food, all deficient for the size of the crowd. Eventually the local residents and stores rustled up all the food they could and shared it all with the hippie crowd, reminiscent of the Biblical "loaves and fishes" story. With no other facilities available people slept on the ground or on a wall or in the rare car. At least one baby was born. No dead bodies were found when they cleaned up at the end.

In all a very peaceful three day music festival that went off mainly without a hitch, and that is truly a marvel. And a really good documentary, using original film and still photos, to tell the story.

Now I don't really know if I would have had fun in that environment but it sure is nice to see all those that did. Part of the people who went on to shape our world and today are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Excellent documentary about the planning, prep, execution, and performances at Woodstock! Fantastic directing and editing of the film, which included a lot of incredible high-quality footage from 1969, plus, several terrific recent audio interviews from those who were related to the festival in some fashion. Highly recommended!