Woodstock – Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music (1970)

Directed by: Michael Wadleigh | 216 minutes | documentary, history, music | Starring: Joan Baez, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, Country Joe McDonald & Country Joe & The Fish, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana, John Sebastian , Sha-Na-Na, Sly & The family Stone, Ten Years After, The Who

Woodstock, the most legendary music festival of all time. Everything was right during that magical summer of 1969: the atmosphere, the people, the music. About 500,000 hippies settled in a meadow to listen to greats such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Jefferson Airplane. Traffic jammed for miles around, food ran out and there were too few toilets and first aiders. Yet there were hardly any disturbances and help soon came from all corners. Locals donated food, the military flew in relief supplies, and doctors offered their services for free. Woodstock proved that half a million young people could live together in harmony for three days and thus symbolized the fraternizing effect of music.

Director Michael Wadleigh was there and shot pictures that you could frame. In his documentary ‘Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music’, Wadleigh alternates atmospheric images with performances and interviews with festival visitors, artists, organizers, the local population and authorities. He appears to have an eye for special moments; the camera always seems to be in the right place. This makes ‘Woodstock’ more than just a festival report. The film paints a beautiful picture of the generation that grew up with rock, recreational drugs and free love, but also with racial hatred, the war in Vietnam and the threat of nuclear weapons. The spell of Woodstock briefly gave America a sense that peace and freedom were within reach.

And then the music. It is pure, honest and straight from the heart. Woodstock’s line-up was mouth-watering and many performances are considered classic. Richie Havens improvising the song “Freedom” during his set. The Janis Joplin who died too young and who screams his lungs out. “Pinball Wizard” by The Who and “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. Carlos Santana presenting himself to a large audience, with a very young Michael Shrieve behind the drums. The energy radiates from the stage and all that beautiful music comes into its own thanks to the improved sound quality of the Director’s Cut. So enjoy!

‘Woodstock’ has so many golden moments that it is difficult to choose. The aerial shots of the huge crowds. The yogis who get high naturally through breathing exercises. The making out couples. The organizers who declare with a big smile on their faces that Woodstock is a financial disaster. A girl with a colorful parasol on a deserted, trampled festival site. The Chief of Police calling on America’s parents to be proud of their offspring. Hippies who say ‘NO RAIN!’ scan, notice that it does not help and then make a virtue of necessity. If you think they invented the mud slide at Lowlands, you’re wrong!

There are only a few hiccups. The image quality logically leaves something to be desired here and there, the interviews are difficult to understand due to the background noise and Wadleigh is a bit too enthusiastic about alternating image formats. Not everyone likes to look at large black bars. The documentary is also on the long side with its 3.5 hours. Well, then you also have something! ‘Woodstock’ is a movie that every music lover should see. Even if you crawled out of the egg after the hippie era.