Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival (1997)

Director:

Murray Lerner

Writer:

Murray Lerner (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | Music

Plot:

In August 1970 600,000 fans flocked to the Isle of Wight to witness the third and final festival to be held on the island...

Plot Keywords:

Isle Of Wight | Performance | 1970s | Island | Microphone

Cast

Ian Anderson	...	Himself (Jethro Tull)
Joan Baez	...	Herself
Martin Barre	...	Himself (Lead guitarist, Jethro Tull)
Chick Churchill	...	Himself (Ten Years After)
Leonard Cohen	...	Himself
Billy Cox	...	Himself (Jimi Hendrix's Bassist)
Roger Daltrey	...	Himself (The Who)
Miles Davis	...	Himself
John Densmore	...	Himself (The Doors)
Donovan	...	Himself
The Doors	...	Themselves
Graeme Edge	...	Himself (The Moody Blues)
Keith Emerson	...	Himself (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Emerson Lake and Palmer	...	Themselves
John Entwistle	...	Himself (The Who)
Ricki Farr	...	Himself - Master of Ceremonies
Andy Fraser	...	Himself (Free)
Free	...	Themselves
Rory Gallagher	...	Himself (Lead guitarist, Taste)
Justin Hayward	...	Himself (The Moody Blues)
Jimi Hendrix	...	Himself
Jethro Tull	...	Themselves
Simon Kirke	...	Himself (Free)
Paul Kossoff	...	Himself (Free)
Robby Krieger	...	Himself (The Doors)
Kris Kristofferson	...	Himself
Greg Lake	...	Himself (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Alvin Lee	...	Himself (Ten Years After)
Ric Lee	...	Himself (Ten Years After)
John Lodge	...	Himself (The Moody Blues)
Leo Lyons	...	Himself (Ten Years After)
Ray Manzarek	...	Himself (The Doors)
Richard McCracken	...	Himself (Drummer, Taste).
Joni Mitchell	...	Herself
Mitch Mitchell	...	Himself (Jimi Hendrix's Drummer)
The Moody Blues	...	Themselves
Keith Moon	...	Himself (The Who)
Jim Morrison	...	Himself (The Doors)
Carl Palmer	...	Himself (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Mike Pinder	...	Himself (The Moody Blues)
Paul Rodgers	...	Himself (Free)
John Sebastian	...	Himself
Taste	...	Themselves
Ray Thomas	...	Himself (The Moody Blues)
Tiny Tim	...	Himself
Pete Townshend	...	Himself (The Who)
The Who	...	Themselves
John Wilson	...	Himself (Drummer, Taste)
Ten Years After	...	Themselves

Also Known As:

Message of Love: The Isle of Wight Festival: The Movie (USA) (video title)
Message to Love (UK)

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Isle of Wight, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Among the artists who were invited to perform but didn't were James Taylor and The Beach Boys.

Quotes:

Bert "The Agent: They claim that it isn't money that they're interested in. Nobody seems to be interested in money, the agents, the artists, you, me, so forth and so on. But to put one of these festivals on everybody's got to be paid. It couldn't be love, 'cause they love money.

Soundtrack:

Red Eye Express

Murray Lerner interview

I have perused the comments here and must say I have very little to add. Then again, I have to have a minimum of 10 lines here, or this comment won't get posted. Obviously, if you have taken the time to find this film and watched it, you are intelligent enough to pick up on all the nuances that a filmmaker like Murray Lerner puts into a project like this (as the comments here reflect). With all the shortcomings of the era being shown in full detail, we still have to also admit that the music then was great, and maybe even wish that music today could be so good. Then again, you can only invent a musical language once, and the process of doing it will always be remembered more fondly than when the music continues without the same degree of innovation. The issues of the 1960s may have lost their gravitas today, but hopefully a film like Message to Love might reveal a failure of methodolgy, not of purpose, and perhaps even allow us to remember that Vietnam and the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK were among the most important events this country has ever faced--which might be why the music was also so timely and good. If you want some more information, I did an interview with Murray Lerner:

"Murray Lerner's Film: Message to Love: the Isle of Wight Music Festival 1970. An Interview by Gregg Wager." Doors Collectors Magazine. Ed. Kerry Humphreys. Apr.-Oct. 1997: 11-15.

It's no longer available online, but ask me about it and I might be able to get you a copy.