I knew of this documentary because it is in the book of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I had heard of the concert itself, and I can see why it won an Oscar. To be honest, I was really "watching" it, mainly just listening to it while working, because of the good music shows, but also because I did not realise the original cut was only 3 hours and four minutes, this director's cut version I saw was an extra 48 minutes of footage. This film from director Michael Wadleigh, with the assistance of Thelma Shoonmaker (editor of such films as Goodfellas, Gangs of New York and The Departed, see the connection) and Martin Scorcese, this basically had footage from all sides (on and off stage) at the fields of upstate New York in 1969 of the biggest gathering (at the time, Live Aid probably beat it) in history for a big music festival. With music from The Who, Sha-Na-Na, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Ten Years After, Santana, Sly & the Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Features, and it was nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It was number 36 on The 50 Greatest Documentaries. Very good!
Review of Woodstock
