Taking Woodstock (2009)

A man working at his parents' motel in the Catskills inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969.

Director:

Ang Lee

Writers:

James Schamus (screenplay), Elliot Tiber (book)

Stars:

Demetri Martin, Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert

8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Henry Goodman	...	Jake Teichberg
Edward Hibbert	...	British Gentleman
Imelda Staunton	...	Sonia Teichberg
Demetri Martin	...	Elliot Teichberg
Kevin Chamberlin	...	Jackson Spiers
Lee Wong	...	George the Doorman (as Takeo Lee Wong)
Anthoula Katsimatides	...	Esther
Clark Middleton	...	Frank
Bette Henritze	...	Annie
Sondra James	...	Margaret
Jeffrey Dean Morgan	...	Dan
Christina Kirk	...	Carol
Gail Martino	...	Town Clerk
Emile Hirsch	...	Billy
Adam LeFevre	...	Dave

Storyline

A man working at his parents' motel in the Catskills inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969.

---

Plot Keywords:

lsd | male full frontal nudity | catskills | concert | musician | 

---

Taglines:

"A Generation Began In His Backyard."

---

Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Music

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic nudity, some sexual content, drug use and language

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Destino: Woodstock

Filming Locations:

Cherry Plain State Park, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,457,760, 30 August 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$7,443,007, 27 September 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

No authentic Woodstock footage was inserted into the film. According to director Ang Lee, all the crowd and concert footage was shot specifically for the film.

---

Goofs

Arlo Guthrie was heard singing "Coming Into Los Angeles" in daylight. When the 1969 Woodstock concert first took place, Arlo came on stage at midnight right after Melanie.

---

Quotes

[the Chamber of Commerce discussing tourism ideas]
Frank: Well, okay. We got a lot of dairy farms around here, right? And a fair number of bulls. Okay, you've all heard of the running of the bulls in that town in Spain, Pampoona.
Elliot Tiber: Pamplona.
Frank: Well, no one's doing one in the Catskills. Seems to be a big draw over there.
Annie: It would be very amusing to see all those Jews from Levitsky's summer colony, you know, the ones with the black top hats and the curls, running for their lives chased by our local livestock...

---

Connections

Featured in Peace, Love and Cinema (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Coming into Los Angeles
Written and performed by Arlo Guthrie
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

User Reviews

Enjoyable but music is missing

I saw this movie being very attracted by the trailer which seemed to offer fun and deep involvement. Now I have seen it, and I can say that it is enjoyable, but not fully convincing. Obviously, Ang Lee drifts attention from the concerts and the music of those three epic days in 1969 to focus on the personal story of a young man and his odd family who worked and lived in the background of this great event. The characters are engaging, very well interpreted, but in the end I missed the real protagonist, music, being it the powerful means through which these young people gave voice to their need for change and revolution and which was revolutionary, indeed. The atmosphere of those days is rendered vividly, we get many physical perceptions, of naked bodies, mud, rain, sun, but not acoustic ones, and I perceived this as a flaw throughout the movie. In the end you ask yourself: wasn't Woodstock mainly a three-day concert? Where is music? The movie is solidly directed, the director knows perfectly what kind of product he wants to offer, and in the end we get fun and reflection around, but never inside an event, which never comes to be explicit. Very good actorial interpretations (Imelda Staunton playing the mother is simply wonderful), although the characters themselves appear to be looking for a soundtrack which lacks till the end.