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| Artwork for Theatrical Release |
Such is not the case with this film.
Shot in 16mm, over a weekend, and encompassing some of the most iconic performers of all time, and definitely stalwarts of their era. This film manages to not preach, not teach, not prophetize, and does it well.
It would have been easy to take a film like this and turn it into a "Hey look, we are great" moment. Instead, it allows the music to shine on it's own, giving us the occasional glimpse into the audience, and the sparse clip of performers off-stage, sometimes even admiring their colleagues.
The footage is not as clean or methodical as The Last Waltz (1978), but it's ever so beautiful, and it manages to feel a part of the stylization of the film. An acid trip here. A hair in the camera plate there. All dancing in the wind, melding together, showcasing that you don't have to be clean to have fun, or make beautiful art.
Ultimately the film leaves you with an unresolved sense of awe and uneasiness. So much beauty and so much rage. So much creativity and destruction. All condensed to 90 minutes of flawed perfection.
You swing from the mindless destruction of The Who to the beautiful mellowness of the Mamas and the Papas with a cold cut. The former, as a side note is both anger-inducing and funny. See if you can manage to watch this and not smirk as the crew runs to save the mics.
But there's an even more confounding instance of destruction, one that manages to be artistic, but full of rage, and creativity at the same time, all truly emblematic of this concert, and the era it would bring forth. Jimi Hendrix's ear blowing rendition of "Wild Thing" ends with some of the most inventive guitar playing, and the most interesting pyrotechnics I've ever seen.
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| Artwork for the Criterion Blu-ray Release |
Truly iconic, and beautifully shot, even in it's most serendipitous moments (i.e. Otis Redding's set).
The film finishes with one of it's most surprising performers, the quintessential sitar god Ravi Shakar (Norah Jones's father) and his fellow collaborator Alla Rakha, jamming for what seems forever. Here you get, what one could easily find as the synthesis for the whole film. Eastern influences, fueling the transcendent movement towards some undefined Nirvana; while the other performers, Cass Elliot and Jimi Hendrix amongst others, jamming along, being completely exasperated by the beautiful music being played on stage, all shot in medium shots.
Music aside, the film itself is gorgeous and worth the careful look.
Even if you don't have a fancy for this music, believe me, buy the Criterion Edition Blu-ray, it's worth having.
For the music. For the improv film-making. For the sheer enjoyment of it.
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