Woodstock Again
Woodstock is back... on the screens! In deed, the comedy Taking Woodstock, from famous director of Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, and recounting the incredible story of the festival, is now out since August 28 in United States.
The movie is based on the memoirs of Elliot tiber himself who granted the original permit for the event.
The story takes place in 1969, in Bethel, a small town located in the North of New York state. Elliot, a young interior designer, is broke, and has to go back to daddy & mummy's home. While he is trying to save the dumpy family's motel that is being run into the ground by his overbearing parents, he hear that a planned music and arts festival, based in the neighboring town of walkill, has losts its permit. Attracted by the project, he decides to give calls to producer Michael Lang from woodstock Ventures to organize the festival in Bethel. A local farmer is also interested to rent his lands to welcome the event.
After several visits from music producers, the town is finally chosen.
The few 50 000 tickets are on sale, and the following day, all of them have been sold. But always more and more people are coming on the roads...
Infatuated by all what's happening, Elliot takes a important decision: in front of the horde of journalists, he announces that the concert will be totally free! That is the turning of the festival. A total of five hundred thousands people are on place, and two times more are locked in the most important trafic jam of the America's history.
This festival has been the most important event never seen until this day. At the begining, it was planned to be a small meeting between few music lovers and small artists. Finally, Woodstock Festival has been considerated as the main Hippie and Flower Power movement of the 60's, gathering together thousands of young persons, sharing their culture, their love, their music and their druggs...
The area has been declared as disastered after that, even if the meeting was totally peaceful.
The most popular artists of the moment were present the 15th, 16th and the 17th of August, 1969 on Max Yasgur's lands: Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Joan Baez, Santana, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Sly & The Family Stone, The Who, Joe Cocker and Jimi Hendrix, to quote the more famous of the total of 32 groups.
This festival is considered as a living legend, not only a musical event, but a whole historical event.
Guillaume Balay & Arthur Boz