No matter who participated in this event or heard about it, those who knew that era, or those who grew up in the next generation, were deeply moved by this music event. It's hard to imagine that a concert can have such a powerful impact, taking place before I was born. Although I did not attend the meeting in person, I was deeply moved by the documentary "Woodstock" in the process of studying. At that time, I had an epiphany about the so-called spirit of rock and roll. At that time, I thought, "If rock and roll really has a spirit in form, Woods Tucker is the so-called spiritual symbol." A few years later, because Woods Tucker was transformed into Husto, this grand event that was constantly praised once again aroused everyone's endless moving for this three-day period.
[Plot synopsis] In 1969, interior designer Elliot Taber (played by Dimitri Martin) was originally working in New York. Because of the repeated pleas of his parents, he decided to return to his hometown to restructure the precarious family business---the tattered shack that was about to collapse. The motel, while Elliot was still struggling with how to save the hotel, he heard the exciting news that the next town had revoked the right to hold the "Wusto Music Festival", so he did not Hesitating to call the organizers of the music festival immediately and invite them to come to Baihu Town to hold the much-anticipated "Husto Music Festival", hoping that the crowd of the music festival can bring business to the hotel that few people are interested in.
Before the movie was released, I couldn't resist and bought the original novel to read. [Wusto Storm] This novel is the autobiographical novel of the protagonist Elliot Taber. In the first half of the book, in addition to describing his incompatible relationship with his family, he also explicitly describes his sexuality, desire and morbidity for sex. While reading, I thought, after Lust and Caution, Ang Lee brought up the theme of gays, which he is good at describing, as the main axis of his creation. Compared with the restrained and repressed emotions of "The Banquet" and "Brokeback Mountain", Elliott Taber's "The Hustow Rush" appears to be more open or indulgent. The novel is named [Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, A Concert, and A Life], which is actually different from the documentary "Woodstock" in our previous impressions, so no matter whether it is a novel or a movie, There is little ink in the music part. In short, this novel is actually a story based on the "Woods Tucker Concert". Therefore, after reading the novel, I was full of curiosity, but also a little disappointed. The curiosity is how Ang Lee will interpret Eliot Taber's inner desire and struggle for love this time; the disappointment is that he hoped to relive the expectations of the music event through the movie.
So I entered the movie theater with a conflicted mood. Not long after the movie started, I realized that the movie was actually different from the novel I read a few days ago, which caused a lot of conflict in my head when I was in the movie theater. "The Hustow Storm" seemed to be torn in my head, becoming two similar but different versions of Ang Lee's version and Eliot's story. As mentioned earlier, Eliot described his thoughts and feelings about his sexuality in great detail in the novel, and the first third of his own sexuality and sexual thoughts and experiences from childhood to adulthood. However, compared with the novel, the description of gay sex and love in the book does not mention a word, and there are only a few scenes in the film that gently touch the protagonist's sexuality in a metaphorical way. Many people say that Ang Lee is doing this in order to make the film focus on the description between the protagonist and the family, but I don't think so. In the novel, because of the oppressive and unopened age, the protagonist Eliot is facing his own sexual struggle and the pursuit of his family's identity. Through this concert full of love and peace, he can be honest and honest with his family. Own. It is also because of the laying out of those stories that the stories are so touching and sincere. When reading the novel, the little details of the story in the book are connected together, giving me a certain feeling of the fusion of the two movies "Barbie Rock" and "Breakfast at Pluto". But after Ang Lee took this element out, it was like taking out the soul of the novel. Therefore, the true confession between the father and Eliot at the end of the story, which was pushed to the top when reading the novel, was abrupt and much thinner in the movie.
Just as the concept of the movie and the original book has gradually drifted away, the writing on Hu Shitou's concert has not increased much. After all, the film is still based on the protagonist's autobiographical novel, so it is impossible to add too many parts that are inconsistent with the novel. Many scenes in the film are separated by the screen, making the film look like a documentary-like feature film. Many times I feel as if I am watching the updated and shortened version of the "Woods Tucker" documentary. The hero Elliot becomes a pure guide of the documentary. The film is in a situation where both sides are not thankful, until the end, I still don't quite understand where the focus is. The only thing that amazes me about the whole movie is that the male protagonist meets Fox Boy and Fox Girl. After eating LSD, the airy feeling, the real sea of people, makes me understand a little bit about that in "Love is the Only". A bridge that I don't know very well, a boundless joy.
Also because the movie is not as exciting as I imagined (for me), and it is also the reason why I went to watch it on the day it was released, and I have only written this article until now. But it's not completely denying the film, it's just that it doesn't resonate much compared to the original, and compared to the "Woods Tucker" documentary. In fact, there are many remarkable places in the film, especially in the part of the actors. The film includes many non-first-tier actors who have performed very well, whether it is Emile Hex, Eugene Levy, Dan Fowler...etc. In particular, Li Fo Xue Bo did not have many roles in the film, but he was very eye-catching every time he appeared. It's like a character in a novel, rough but charming, this kind of bipolar feeling, it's hard to imagine any other actor who can be as suitable for this role as him.
Finally
After watching the documentary "Woods Tucker" that year, I took my enthusiasm to South Taiwan to participate in "Spring Scream". The funny thing is that because of the lack of preparation for the travel expenses, I hastily ended this trip that I thought was bloody. Two or three years later, I finally participated, but it was not as good as I imagined, but I still can't forget that feeling. I've often wondered what it would be like to be in a concert like Woods Tucker. I feel like that kind of emotion, like in the cartoonist Harold Tsukishi's [BECK Rock New Group], I was moved by the scene of picking up trash in a dream~.
View more about Taking Woodstock reviews
