Woodstock (1970)

Taglines: For those of you who never knew. And for those of you who haven’t forgotten.

Woodstock movie storyline. This iconic musical documentary covers the three-day 1969 music festival on the property of Max Yasger’s farm that symbolized the late 1960s in terms of musical, social and political ideology of the era. American audiences are introduced to Ten Years After, featuring guitar great Alvin Lee. Jimi Hendix, The Who and Joe Cocker give riveting performances.

As naked flower children romp, the New York freeway is closed because of traffic congestion. Music lovers leave their cars and travel on foot only survive torrential downpours of rain, food shortages and non-stop music. Jefferson Airplane gives the wake up call with their song “Volunteers Of America.” Crosby, Stills and Nash deliver a memorable performance. John Sebastian gives an impromptu set with a borrowed guitar from Tim Hardin.

Santana, Sly and The Family Stone, Sha-Na-Na, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens and Joan Baez also appear. The movie did big box office business and a successful three record set sold millions of copies. The Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin performed but were not shown in the film. The Dead’s Jerry Garcia recalled that it was the worst live show the band ever did, ironic for a band known for their spirited live performances.

Woodstock is a 1970 documentary film of the watershed counterculture Woodstock Festival which took place in August 1969 near Bethel, New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made.

The film was directed by Michael Wadleigh. Seven editors are credited, including Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese, and Wadleigh. Woodstock was a great commercial and critical success. It received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Schoonmaker was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, a rare distinction for a documentary. Dan Wallin and L. A. Johnson were nominated for the Oscar for Best Sound. The film was screened at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.

The 1970 theatrical release of the film ran 185 minutes. A director’s cut spanning 224 minutes was released in 1994. Both cuts take liberties with the timeline of the festival. However, the opening and closing acts are the same in the film as they appeared on stage; Richie Havens opens the show and Jimi Hendrix closes it. Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock was also released separately on DVD and Blu-ray.

In 1996, Woodstock was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. An expanded 40th Anniversary Edition of Woodstock, released on June 9, 2009 in Blu-ray and DVD formats, features additional performances not before seen in the film, and also includes lengthened versions of existing performances featuring Creedence Clearwater Revival and others.

Directed by: Michael Wadleigh
Starring: Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Roger Daltrey, Crosby Stills & Nash, The Who, Ten Years After, Joe Cocker, Santana, John Sebastian, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Canned Heat
Screenplay by: Michael Wadleigh, Martin Scorsese, Stan Warnow, Yeu-Bun Yee, Jere Huggins, Thelma Schoonmaker
Cinematography by: Malcolm Hart, Don Lenzer, Michael Margetts, David Myers, Richard Pearce, Michael Wadleigh, Alfred Wertheimer
Film Editing by: Jere Huggins, Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese, Michael Wadleigh, Stanley Warnow, Yeu-Bun Yee
Art Department: Bill Gold
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: March 26, 1970