A Generation Began In His Backyard.
Taking Woodstock
By Daryl Tan
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Demetri Martin, Eugene Levy, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Liev Schreiber, Emile Hirsch
Official website: http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/taking_woodstock/
For heaven's sake, it's Woodstock, 1969. Where's the music? Like any other viewer going into Taking Woodstock, I was hoping to catch some scintillating big-screen performance footage. Give me the cherubic Joan Baez. Give me Jimi Hendrix's electrifying, emotionally-charged "Red House" (probably the best improvisation guitar performance ever, in my book). Well, that just wasn't to be. Because Taking Woodstock isn't about "Woodstock." It's about "taking." More specifically, it's about grasping every buoy life has to offer, told through the being of Elliot Teichberg (Demetri Martin).
An aspiring designer, Elliot's headed where the action's at - Greenwich, the then creative hub of New York City. However, his ambitions are thwarted when he has to return to the sleepy town of Catskills to manage his parents' run-down El Monaco motel. Elliot's sister has already flown the coop, leaving him to grapple with holding the home together, and preventing the family business from going under.
Discovering through the papers that an impending music festival in the neighboring town has had its permit denied, Elliot seizes the chance to bring the concert to Catskills instead, hoping it will reel in the dough. Weeks later, Catskills is shaken up as a massive horde of hippies with their three frees - free sex, free drugs and free alcohol - swamp the town and its conventional folk to soak in the atmosphere of what would become the biggest rock and roll concert ever.
The crux of Taking Woodstock lies in the film's exploration of sexuality, from naked youth frolicking in clear streams, to a masculine transvestite (Liev Schreiber) who speaks wise, philosophical banter. Even traditional dominant/submissive gender roles are reversed in the relationship between the senior Teichbergs (Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton, whom I cannot praise enough for their splendidly heart-tugging performance). Throughout, judgment is suspended as the camera acts merely as a voyeuristic observer, allowing viewers a peek into the lives of these post-war flower children.
In the context of the 1950s and 60s, openly proclaiming oneself a homosexual would be akin to hanging a sign over your neck with the words, "Lynch me, please." And this supposed deviant sexual inclination is what Elliot has to confront within himself. There are no stereotypical, outlandish gay displays. Rather, Ang Lee chooses to handle the internal conflict with a subtle, delicate touch. For example, in the affectionate way which Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) is fleshed out every time we see him onscreen from Elliot's perspective, Ang Lee evokes in us the feeling of longing and wistfulness our tortured protagonist experiences as he tries to emerge from his physical prison.
Elliot's dilemma between family and ambition throws up the idea of human selfishness. In an Asian society, it has become ingrained that filial piety means living with one's parents, even after marriage, to take care of them in their old age. Leaving the home for greener pastures to pursue one's dreams is deemed self-centered and generally frowned upon. This then begs the question: would it not also be selfish of parents to deny their offspring an opportunity to better their lives? Taking Woodstock prompts viewers to contemplate this issue, especially when it is revealed that Elliot's ma had secretly hoarded sufficient savings to repay motel mortgage many times over. Is she truly a money-grubbing miser, or a desperate mother attempting to cling on to whatever vestige of family she had left?
For those wanting to savor the musical feel of the '60s, a better film to start with would be the 1970 film Woodstock. What Taking Woodstock offers is a neutral perspective on the free-spiritedness of the times juxtaposed with the psychological conflict within the film's characters. I'm heading back home to pay my Are You Experienced album a long overdue re-visit.
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