Winner of the Best Documentary Oscar 1970 and still even bigger for any flat-screen to encompass because of the editing and visual style within, Michael Wadleigh’s chronicle of the legendary music festival in upstate New York over three days in August 1969 where an incredible 400,000 people were alleged to have attended, amidst expectations of a mere 50,000.
The whole event went above and beyond anything that had come before – and even today, it is regarded as one of the all-time great experiences for those who were there, with performances from the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Who and Jimi Hendrix amongst others. Online research into the event also reveals that the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Simon and Garfunkel turned down appearances to take part for various reasons (the latter were working on their then-new album at the time)
The film, which was reissued in 1994 to mark its’ 25th Anniversary in cinemas in an updated Dolby Six-Track version, is a stunning mix of sound and vision, enhanced by the split screen and multi-ratio style. Modern music fans might find some of the acts on show unfamiliar, but the idea is to take in the whole work, which also includes some intercut footage of the locals and the crowds as they arrive, coupled with backstage (or is that backfield?) footage as the technicians struggle to deal with rain.
Admittedly some of the comments and reflections are very much representative of the time, with the free-flowing love-ins and drug-taking which was prevalent in the counter-culture mentality of the time, but the music is the raison-d’etre for this film – and seeing the likes of Jimi Hendrix performing is a treat for those who wondered what made this iconic figure such an influential artist on those who came after.