With my second watching, my experience changed towards a more positive stance. Having seen the original documentary footage of Woodstock, I came to appreciate this film much more. I enjoyed discovering the many scenes relating to the 1970 documentary (e.g. the theatre group, the guy shaving in the lake, the split screen, the toilet cleaning guy or the three nuns). I also enjoyed the soundtrack, including some of the original acts. I also fancied the fact, that at some points the original concert music was included as was the case with Richie Havens singing "Freedom".
Apart from the many positive aspects of the film, there is still something missing to make this film a more memorable experience. In my opinion, the greatest problem of the film is that to a large extent the concert itself is not sufficiently depicted. The film concentrates too much on what surrounds the festival (setting up and organising the festival), but leaves out much of the musical aspect. This is definitely not an easy task to achieve. But this is something I would expect when watching a film with such a promising title.
Review of Taking Woodstock
