Grand Jury Prize - World Cinema Documentary Nominee at SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2006

Genre: Documentary
Director: Julien Temple
Starring: ColdPlay, Radiohead, Bjork, David Bowie, James Brown, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, David Grey, The Killers, The White Stripes, Paul McCartney, REM, Morrisey
RunTime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: M18

Opening Day: 16 November 2006

Synopsis:

In 1970, a young farmer named Michael Eavis opened his 150-acre farm to 1,500 people who paid one pound each to watch a handful of pop and folk stars perform all weekend long, and the Glastonbury Festival was born. The following year, several rich hippies, including Winston Churchill's granddaughter, provided funds to enlarge the event, and 12,500 people turned up to see David Bowie and Joan Baez. For most of the past 30 years, the Worthy Farm in Glastonbury has provided a delirious outdoor concert for thousands of people over the summer-solstice weekend at the end of June. Julien Temple, (director of the Sex Pistols documentary The Filth and the Fury), has spent the past few years collecting footage from every single Glastonbury Festival, ranging from professional outtakes from the film Nicolas Roeg made about the 1971 event to amateur home videos collected from the attendees themselves, often retrieved from forgotten corners of closets and attics.

Movie Review:

It is only at the 90-minute mark of this 135-minute documentary that it dawned upon this reviewer that the entire film is about the celebration of a spirit that leaves all inhibitions and reserves behind. And it was a certain eccentric singer named Bjork who did the job.

The Icelandic singer is just one of the many performers featured in this documentary about Glastonbury Festival, Britain’s best-known music festival. It is clear that she does not have your typical powerhouse vocals to boast of. Heck, some may even think that her unique singing style equates to total trash.

This is what it is all about, isn’t it. Who cares about proper rules and conventions, as long as the music is enjoyed by both the performer and the audience, everybody is happy.

That, my fellow Singaporean friends, may also be the problem of this film which got nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Because you and I are not familiar with this festival (I can hear those who have heard of this festival sniggering at my ignorance already), we may not understand what all the fuss is all about. In the end, this feature may end up being a two-odd hour concert video, featuring some really big names in the music industry.

Expect to see performances by Velvet Underground, David Gray, Primal Scream, The Scissor Sisters and David Bowie, just to name a few. And all these segments are so heart-thumping and loud, it may be a source of enjoyment or irritant, depending on your mood.

Director Julien Temple should be credited for her intensive effort for bringing all the footages together for this documentary. From the different qualities of the videos, one can tell that she went all out to collect footages from professional outtakes to amateur home videos.

There is also some attempt to structure the documentary to allow viewers to understand the history and culture of this 30-year-old music festival. From the opening segment talking about the religiousness of the lands where the festival is held, to the concluding scene where its sacredness and holiness is brought up again, there are quieter moments for the audience to appreciate and take a breather.

But the runtime of this film merely makes it feel like a mishmash mosaic of videos put together to celebrate this festival - not that this is an entirely bad thing though.

There are the colourful characters who dress up as birds and horses to attend the festival; there are the hippies who run around butt-naked; there are the strange Asian men who blow pipes which make even stranger sounds; there are the crazy dudes who roll in mud in ecstasy. The list can go on forever.

But a personal favourite is the three-man father and sons team who clean up the excrement from the portable toilets every morning. Their outlook in life is something worth cheering for.

A simple line “If it pays, why not?” says it all.

And yes, this free-spirited attitude is what the documentary, and perhaps, Glastonbury Festival is all about.

But when you walk out of the theatre into the bustling surroundings you are so used to, you cannot help but sadly feel that the harsh and practical realities are all lined up again, waiting for you.

Movie Rating:

(A colourful montage of footages featuring rapturous performers and happy people, this documentary will make please fans of British music)

Review by John Li