HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Taking Woodstock

Taking Woodstock

Studio: Universal

Year: 2009

Rated: R

Program Length: 121 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080p

Languages: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA; French, Spanish DTS 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

The Program

Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock may have been one of the most misunderstood film releases of 2009. Almost every negative review of Taking Woodstock which I have seen emphasizes the fact that the film contains no concert footage – either original or re-created – from the famous “three days of peace and music” festival which took place in August, 1969. This seems to me to be an example of misplaced expectations, because Taking Woodstock really is not about the concert. It is about the people who put the concert together – how it affected them and how it impacted the local community.

Elliot Teichberg (Demetri Martin) is an interior director whose parents own the El Monaco Motel, a shabby $8 per night establishment in White Lake, N.Y., A hamlet in the Town of Bethel. Elliot’s mother, Sonia (Imelda Staunton), is a grumpy, unpleasant woman who charges guests a dollar extra if they want a towel and changes sheets only if they have been soiled. His father, Jake (Henry Goodman), is a world-weary man who runs a marginal roofing business and chlorinates the motel’s pool by pouring household bleach into the water. The motel has fallen on hard times and the Teichbergs are facing foreclosure. Elliot, who works in New York City, is compelled to relocate to White Lake for the summer to try to come up with ideas to make the motel profitable. He allows The Earthlight Players, a troupe of actors from Greenwich Village, to live in the family’s barn in exchange for a cut of the receipts from their performances. Elliot also is president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, a group of small town businessmen and businesswomen who have been struggling due to an economic downturn in the area. As president, Elliot issues himself a permit to hold his annual summer “music festival” on the motel’s property. Elliot’s festival really is nothing more than a group of people getting together outdoors to listen to Elliot play his record collection,

In the meantime, Elliot has noted that a group of promoters in New York City has been organizing a large music festival which will feature many of the biggest performers of the era. The festival is originally scheduled to be held at an industrial park in Wallkill, N.Y., about 50 miles east of Bethel, but that venue is cancelled in mid-July when the town government refuses to issue a permit. When Elliot reads about this development in the newspaper, it dawns on him that he has both a festival permit and a large piece of land. He gets on the phone to the Woodstock organizers and invites them to hold the festival on the motel property.

Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff), one of the Woodstock organizers, arrives at the motel to discuss Elliot’s proposal. Michael and the other organizers quickly determine that the motel property is too swampy to be usable, but Elliot remembers that a local dairy farmer, Max Yasgur (Eugene Levy), has a natural outdoor amphitheatre on his property. Yasgur, who is more open-minded than many of his conservative neighbors, agrees to rent his farmland to the organizers. Elliot’s mother is aghast when she learns about what Elliot has done, but she quickly changes her tune when Elliot tells her that they have paid in advance enough money to pay off the motel’s mortgage. The motel becomes the nerve center and residence for the festival organizers, but the local townspeople get up in arms over the prospect of their town being invaded by tens of thousands of drug-addled, war-protesting hippies.

Woodstock organizers initially expected that about 50,000 people would show up. However, as the opening date approaches nearly 200,000 tickets are sold and it becomes apparent that even more people are heading to Yasgur’s farm. During a press conference Elliot inadvertently creates the impression that the concert will now be free, and hundreds of thousands of young people begin to descend upon the area. Elliot bonds with a number of oddball characters, including the former soldier-turned-transvestite, Vilma (Liev Schreiber). Vilma, who totes a holster under his dress, is hired to provide security for the motel. Elliot also befriends Michael Lang’s assistant, Tisha (Mamie Gummer, who in real life is the daughter of Meryl Streep). Seemingly inspired by the influx of free-spirited and non-paying concertgoers who are creating massive traffic jams, the gay but closeted Elliot takes his first hesitant step at coming out.

As noted, the musical acts are never seen and only snippets of concert music can be heard. Elliot himself never gets close to the stage, but the festival nevertheless is a transformative experience for him. Even the police are affected by the atmosphere, as they look the other way in the face of blatant drug use and public nudity.

Taking Woodstock is not by any means a definitive look at the festival. However, it is a worthy companion piece to the famous documentary Woodstock, which also has been released on Blu-ray this year. The film benefits from some excellent acting, including a brilliant performance by Imelda Staunton as Elliot’s repressed and angry mother. Eugene Levy is perfectly cast as Max Yasgur, and Liev Schreiber does a wonderfully understated turn as Livia. Dan Fogler is amusing in a Jack Black sort of way as Devon, the leader of The Earthlight Players, and Jonathan Groff does a fine job as the unflappable and perpetually serene Michael Lang. Demetri Martin is more than adequate in his first leading film role. The one sour note for me is the inclusion of a stereotypically troubled Vietnam veteran named Billy (Emile Hirsch). Hirsch’s performance is fine, but the character is totally fictitious and unnecessary.

As long as you understand what you are getting with Taking Woodstock, I have no hesitation about recommending this Blu-ray disc. If you are interested in the phenomenon that was Woodstock, this is more than worthwhile. You also will have a greater appreciation of film’s ending if you know something about the Altamont Music Festival which took place in December, 1969.

The Video

The 1.85:1 1080p transfer is very good and presumably it accurately reproduces the way the film appeared in theaters. The image is slightly on the soft side, which on occasion give a somewhat hazy effect, but this appears to have been a deliberate artistic decision made in an effort to give it the feel of the late sixties. The exteriors were filmed at various locations in upstate New York, though none of the scenes were shot in or near Bethel. For example, the real El Monaco Motel was torn down five years ago, so a vintage motel in New Lebanon, N.Y. turned out to be a more than adequate replacement. Some of the interior scenes are very dark, but again this appears to have been an artistic choice. The exterior shots give a very accurate representation of how that part of upstate New York actually looks. The colors of the painted buses and hippy garb are vivid and satisfying. Overall this transfer appears to be pristine.

The Audio

The lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is very nice. Viewers expecting to hear a lot of great music are going to be disappointed, because as noted this film is not really about the music. Dialogue is mostly confined to the center channel, and it is clear and understandable. The surround channels come to life in a number of scenes, as exemplified by a scene where a helicopter circles and lands at the motel. There are also very realistic ambient sounds during the scenes of the traffic jams and as Elliot walks among the impromptu campsites set up by the concertgoers. The surround channels also carry the distant sounds of concert music in certain scenes, effectively conveying a sense of what it must have been like to have been in the area but not actually at the festival.

The Supplements

The Blu-ray extras include an informative commentary by director Ang Lee and screenwriter James Schamus. Lee talks about how he usually makes more serious films, but he felt ready to make something more comedic when this project was offered to him. Both men provide some interesting information about the film’s locations. They also talk about how well the experienced cast members worked with Demetri Martin, whose background is mostly in television and stand-up comedy.

Six deleted scenes also are included. All are well-done but none are essential. During the commentary Ang Lee mentions that some of the deleted scenes just seemed to superfluously reinforce points that had already been made. Inclusion of those scenes also would have made the film unnecessarily long.

“Peace, Love and Cinema” is a “making of” featurette which gives viewers at look at how the film was produced.

“No Audience Required: The Earthlight Players” is a short featurette which gives Dan Fogler an opportunity to discuss how he and his fellow actors worked to re-create the look and spirit of the real Earthlight Players.

The Blu-ray disc also gives users the ability to bookmark and organize favorite scenes.

The Packaging

The single disc comes in a standard Blu-ray keep case.

The Final Analysis

Taking Woodstock is an amusing and interesting look at the behind-the-scenes people who made the Woodstock Festival possible. Pair this with the documentary Woodstock and you can immerse yourself in one of the iconic musical events of the sixties.

Equipment used for this review:

Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player

Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display, calibrated to THX specification by Gregg Loewen

Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver

BIC Acoustech speakers

Interconnects: Monster Cable

Release Date: December 15, 2009