Solid filmmaking bolsters Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock
Sara Carr
Issue date: 9/1/09 Section: Arts & Society
On a more positive note the film is incredibly successful at bottling up the energy and spirit of 1969 in a time capsule by keeping the comedy carefree and simple (drug jokes, classic miscommunications, and pratfalls of culture clashing). And yet it also tackles deeper issues of the era, namely Vietnam, through Emile Hirsch's character Billy who struggles with PTSD when returning home from war. Hirsch clocks in another solid performance with his manic interpretation of a man whose mind can easily drift into battle at any given moment.
The always impressive Liev Schreiber takes on the role of Vilma, a transvestite Elliot enlists as security for the hotel.
Schreiber's Vilma may be a supporting role and yet his relaxed performance plays off well against Martin's strained Elliot whose character is self-conscious about coming out to his parents, and when you consider how judgmental his mother is you can't seem to blame him. But Schreiber's Vilma pushes Elliot in the right direction of accepting yourself and being comfortable in your own shoes without really saying the words, she simply leads by example.
With all of these characters in place the hippies begin to arrive in droves and it is then when the film really finds its footing after a hit-or-miss exposition. The film begins to flow easily from scene to scene in the same spirit as hippies flow freely into town. Lee often breaks up the screen to give us a view of the festival from all angles at once immersing the audience into the moment and using a unique method to do so.
Furthermore the tense drama between the town and the organizers takes a backseat to the comedy that only drugs can induce. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) makes a memorable appearance in the film as one half of a hippie couple that introduces Elliot to acid. That then leads into a hilarious tripped out sequence where the crowd is literally swimming according to Elliot's eyes.
The film has great sense of optimism that is only fitting for a true-to-life coming of age story that just so happens to be set against the backdrop of the most important musical event perhaps of all time.
The always impressive Liev Schreiber takes on the role of Vilma, a transvestite Elliot enlists as security for the hotel.
Schreiber's Vilma may be a supporting role and yet his relaxed performance plays off well against Martin's strained Elliot whose character is self-conscious about coming out to his parents, and when you consider how judgmental his mother is you can't seem to blame him. But Schreiber's Vilma pushes Elliot in the right direction of accepting yourself and being comfortable in your own shoes without really saying the words, she simply leads by example.
With all of these characters in place the hippies begin to arrive in droves and it is then when the film really finds its footing after a hit-or-miss exposition. The film begins to flow easily from scene to scene in the same spirit as hippies flow freely into town. Lee often breaks up the screen to give us a view of the festival from all angles at once immersing the audience into the moment and using a unique method to do so.
Furthermore the tense drama between the town and the organizers takes a backseat to the comedy that only drugs can induce. Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) makes a memorable appearance in the film as one half of a hippie couple that introduces Elliot to acid. That then leads into a hilarious tripped out sequence where the crowd is literally swimming according to Elliot's eyes.
The film has great sense of optimism that is only fitting for a true-to-life coming of age story that just so happens to be set against the backdrop of the most important musical event perhaps of all time.
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