Celebration at Big Sur (1971)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Directors:

Baird Bryant
Johanna Demetrakas

Release Date:

10 December 1971 (Sweden)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

Everyone did it... for the sheer love of it.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Crowd | California | Swimming Pool | Outdoor Concert

Cast

Joan Baez	...	Herself
Carol Ann Cisneros	...	Herself
David Crosby	...	Himself
Chris Ethridge	...	Himself
Mimi Farina	...	Herself
Joni Mitchell	...	Herself
Dorothy Morrison	...	Herself
Graham Nash	...	Himself
Julie Payne	...	Herself
Greg Reeves	...	Himself
John Sebastian	...	Himself
Stephen Stills	...	Himself
Dallas Taylor	...	Himself
Neil Young	...	Himself
The Combs Sisters	...	Themselves

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:Btl | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Tedd Mann Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Flashing on the Sixties: A Tribal Document (1990) (V)

Soundtrack:

Rainbows Over Your Blues

Crude but effective time capsule

The music isn't exactly my bag, but there's no denying the historical interest of this low budget film about a low budget festival that took place in 1969 at the Esalen Institute, one of the premier psychobabble headquarters of the day. If you enjoy footage of folks flying their freak flag high, this is for you. Fans of folk music will be in heaven, but others will find the sounds pretty thin gruel--and sometimes, especially in the case of Joni Mitchell's caterwauling, the musical equivalent of a high colonic. Neil Young looks and sounds cool, especially on an organ-heavy number early in the film, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers are excellent. The film has a grittiness that sets it apart from Woodstock, and the small nature of the crowd--and the fact that the 'stage' is one side of a swimming pool--make this a valuable record of what seems to have been a genuine communal experience.