34th TIFF

[Johann]

WOODSTOCK


This event happened 40 years ago, and a lot of people lament that the "promise of Peace and Love" of the 60's was never fulfilled. I'm not so sure about that.

Embodying peace and love is an individual thing, and I'm sure that there are millions who, deep down, want peace and want love. (And great, passionate music to go with it).

Why do fuckheads have to start wars and maintain them? Is there a place for that shit here?
Really? We need Defence Departments? We need armies?
Why? What for? Because someone out there ain't happy about their lives? The Woodstock event, no matter what you want to say about it, was a phenomenon at the time.
Never in the history of humanity had there been an exodus like that to a farm in Upstate New York. Jerry Garcia is seen sitting on the hill early in the film, getting ready to smoke some reefer and he makes a point about how it's like some Biblical, Epic-al, thing, all these people coming from all over the country to see some of their favorite musicians play the soundtrack of the times.

It was all brilliantly caught on camera by Michael Wadleigh, Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker and others. They captured the moment. And it was a Moment. Nothing exactly like it has happened since, in the same way, with the same impact.
But I noticed some things about it, that time reveals quite interestingly.