The Phoenix Network:
About | Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
-->

Glastonbury

David Bowie returns
By PEG ALOI  |  April 4, 2007
3.5 3.5 Stars
070403_inside_glastonbury
GIMME A BEAT: Glastonbury music festival caught on film.

Julien Temple’s documentary traces the evolution of the world’s most iconoclastic music festival. In 1970, on a field near the sacred site of Glastonbury Tor, a new-age pilgrim’s destination associated with druids, King Arthur, and Joseph of Arimathea, 1500 people paid a pound each to hear bands play. Now crowds number 300,000 a year and pay 200 times that. Early concerns like drugs, nudity, and free love have given way to the modern demons of crime, pollution, and surveillance. (Watch Joe Strummer attack a camera with his mic stand.) Temple edited 900 hours of new and archival footage (including Nicolas Roeg’s 1972 film Glastonbury Fayre) into an eclectic, non-linear narrative: golden-lit frolicking hippies meld with glowstick-wearing yahoos. Brief glimpses of concertgoers’ theatrics, protests, and ecstasy accompany performances ranging from Richie Havens, Melanie, and the Velvet Underground to Björk, Morrissey, and Radiohead, plus David Bowie returning after a 30 year absence.
Related:
  Topics: Reviews , Julien Temple , Glastonbury , Entertainment ,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY PEG ALOI
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS  |  November 17, 2008
    A stirring glimpse at Europe's darkest hour
  •   OUR DISAPPEARED  |  October 09, 2008
    Fascinating historical clips mixed with personal interviews
  •   BRITISH ADVERTISING FILMS OF 2008  |  October 09, 2008
    This year’s goodies revealed some notable new trends
  •   SIXTY SIX  |  August 20, 2008
    A pleasing, if unbalanced, period piece
  •   BRICK LANE  |  June 25, 2008
    A lush love story of Bangladeshi immigrants

 See all articles by: PEG ALOI

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



Featured Articles in Talking Politics:
Friday, November 21, 2008  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2008 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group