Film: Taking Woodstock

Cast includes: Henry Goodman (The Damned United), Imelda Stauton (Vera Drake), Demetri Martin (Important Things with Demetri Martin), Eugene Levy (Best in Show), Liev Schreiber (Defiance)
Director: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Genre: Historic based comedy/drama (2009)

In brief: Nothing’s sadder than a has-been resort town in the Catskills. The tourists use to come to White Lake. But in 1969, it’s almost impossible to rent rooms at the El Monaco Motel and Resort for $8 a day. The place is pretty run down. The Teichbergs would like to do some upkeep, but they can’t even keep up with their mortgage. They’ve got until the end of the summer tourist season to turn things around… but that’s not going to happen without a miracle.

Elliot Teichberg is home for the summer, trying to help his parents with the motel. He’s gotten a permit for a local music festival… a small affair with a handful of locals entertaining other locals… if anyone shows up. When Elliot learns that a nearby town revoked the permit for a larger music festival, leaving the Woodstock Festival organizers high and dry, Elliot gets an idea. A single phone call sets an amazing sequence of events into motion. Is this the miracle the Teichbergs… and indeed the whole town… need, or even want? “The word is getting out that this thing might get a little bigger than we originally thought.”

You might expect a film about Woodstock to feature some footage from the 1969 Woodstock Festival. But that’s not what this film is about. It’s really about the Teichberg family, the Woodstock organizers and a small collection of locals. We never really get close to the actual concert. The area was pretty congested, if you recall… with most attendees having to be satisfied just soaking up the vibes. And after all the hard work, even Elliot can’t make it to the “center of the universe”… and has to be satisfied soaking up vibes. But the vibes were good... and good enough to change the world for many involved. Based on a memoir by Elliot Tiber, Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life, this is a more personal view of Woodstock than we’re used to seeing.

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