Synopsis
50 years after the legendary fest, Barak Goodman’s electric retelling of Woodstock, from the point of view of those who were on the ground, evokes the freedom, passion, community, and joy the three-day music festival created.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Joan BaezSelf
- David CrosbySelf
- Wavy GravySelf
- Richie HavensSelf
- Stephen StillsSelf
- Bonnie BeecherSelf (voice, as Jahanara Romney)
- Bill GrahamSelf
- Joel RosenmanSelf (voice)
- Michael LangSelf (voice)
- Country Joe McDonaldSelf
Recommendations
- 90
Film Threat
There have been a lot of documentaries about the historic Woodstock festival, but many have not discussed much other than the performance aspect of it. This documentary lets the ones who were there discuss what it took to put the festival together, the challenges the festival faced, the unity of everyone involved, and what it meant to the country during a critical time. - 88
Movie Nation
I was shocked at how emotional the film, covering familiar ground with a lot of familiar footage, could be. - 80
The New York Times
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, directed by Barak Goodman, uses the perspective of nearly 50 years’ hindsight to demonstrate anew how the festival was both a mess and a miracle, and implicitly argues that it was a good deal more miracle than mess. - 75
Slant Magazine
Throughout, the era-defining yet problem-plagued music festival astounds in large part for all the disasters that didn’t occur. - 75
The Playlist
As a primer for deeper dives, including Wadleigh’s film, it’s mainly successful, contextualizing the events and providing some never-before-seen footage. Yet for those already versed in what transpired on Yasgur’s farm, Goodman’s film is really just playing the hits. - 70
Los Angeles Times
The events of Woodstock have been told, so it’s refreshing that this documentary draws out the details one might not have heard before — the food donations from the town, the volunteer Army doctors, the attendees who stayed to pick up trash. - 67
IndieWire
While Goodman and Ephron’s film abides by a “peace & love 101” approach that might prove tiresome for people who already know about Wavy Gravy or the inclement weather that threatened to rain out an entire movement, this lucid and entertaining look back in time gradually twists that broadness into its greatest strength. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
Barak Goodman's straightforward Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation plays to this group of nostalgic Baby Boomers, offering a rosy view of the titular event that for many is synonymous with Peace & Love
