Woodstock : : Three Days That Defined a Generation

Locations
Call Number: DVD 781.66 Wo
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD 781.66 Wo	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Originally broadcast on television by PBS in 2019 as an episode of the television program American Experience.
Wide screen.
In August 1969, nearly half a million people gathered at a farm in upstate New York to hear music. What happened over the next three days, however, was far more than a concert. It would become a legendary event, one that would define a generation and mark the end of one of the most turbulent decades in modern history. Occurring just weeks after an American set foot on the moon, the Woodstock music festival took place against a backdrop of a nation in conflict over sexual politics, civil rights and the Vietnam War. A sense of an America in transition -- a handoff of the country between generations with far different values and ideals -- was tangibly present at what promoters billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music." Woodstock turns the lens back at the audience, at the swarming, impromptu city that grew up overnight on a few acres of farm land. What took place in that teaming mass of humanity -- the rain-soaked, starving, tripping, half-a-million strong throng of young people -- was nothing less than a miracle of teamwork, a manifestation of the "peace and love" the festival had touted and a validation of the counter-culture's promise to the world. Who were these kids? What experiences and stories did they carry with them to Bethel, New York that weekend, and how were they changed by three days in the muck and mire of Yasgur's farm?
DVD, NTSC region 1, anamorphic widescreen presentation; 5.1 surround.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Summer of Love submitted by Meginator on August 21, 2021, 9:30am This is a straightforward documentary that juxtaposes interviews with promoters, musicians, and attendees with archival photographs and video to tell the story of Woodstock, from its first conception (as a promotional event for a recording studio) to the final wails of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar. The film is generally positive about the festival, though the filmmakers do draw attention to some of the problems that cropped up, and gives viewers a sense of how it actually felt to be there and experience it. So much about Woodstock has passed into the realm of cultural mythology and it’s interesting to learn more about what actually happened beyond the common conceptions; this film does an excellent job of providing that deeper look.