Taking Woodstock (2009)

Director Ang Lee’s latest film is one with epic surroundings; but amid the beautiful chaos is a coming of age story. Elliot (Demetri Martin) offers up his parent’s failing hotel as the base of operations for a then unheard of music festival called Woodstock. What he doesn’t realize at the time he donates an important music festival permit is how much the festival will change him.

Based on a memoir of the period, Lee strips away the iconic elements of the historical festival. What’s left in Taking Woodstock is an often comedic look at the pre and post hippie affects on Bethel, New York.

Starring a solid ensemble cast, Taking Woodstock is a real trip thanks in part to characters that give the film an offbeat feel. Demetri Martin is the twenty-something Jewish son. As Elliot, Martin plays him queer, uncertain, and an aspiring painter who is unfortunately tied to his parent’s motel. Imelda Staunton has an incredible turn as his paranoid, riotous mother, Sonia. Staunton is unlike anything I ever seen her before.  She's a chamelon.  Henry Goodman is her long-suffering husband, Jake. Elliot’s relationships with them are the impetus for welcoming the hippies. With the festival organizers comes slurry of great characters that help build the film’s off-beat, easy going naturel: Vietnam Vet Billy (Emile Hirsch), Vilma (brilliant turn for Liev Schreiber), and the VW couple (Paul Dano and Kelli Garner). Eugene Levy is the now famous farmer Max Yasgur.

The colors and production detail are dazzling. Lee doesn’t skimp on any element. Taking Woodstock looks epic, but manages to keep its cozy, personal feel. Elliot’s acid trip courtesy of VW couple is an incredible sequence.

Stripped of the nostalgia angle, independent of the music and political events of the day, this film strikes a remarkable chord. Taking Woodstock is a completely different animal with none of Lee’s heavy-handedness found in Lust, Caution. What he has done is successfully capture a pivotal moment in music history and celebrates the beauty of like-minded random strangers. As I see it, that’s pretty cool.