Lee’s movie is based on the memoir of Elliot Tiber—a young Jewish interior designer living in Manhattan who was saddled with the responsibility for the upkeep of the broken down Catskills “resort” owned by his tough, shrewish mother (Imelda Staunton, who is tremendous) and his mostly silent, put upon father (Henry Goodman, who does much with his still-waters-running-deep part). Lee sets the sardonic tone at the outset when he gives us a tour of the crummy motel set amidst the sleepy hamlet of upstate New York circa summer ’69. Lee is aided enormously by a roster of expert supporting actors (Emile Hirsch, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, and Bette Henritze among them) who portray the eccentric, often cranky characters inhabiting the area.
Down to their last three months from an indulgent bank officer with foreclosure in sight, Elliot, as head of the local township, seizes on the opportunity to grant the Woodstock organizers the permit to hold their music festival and in the bargain, use the motel as the group’s headquarters, erasing his parent’s huge debt. Overcoming protests from the locals and after paying cagy land owner Max Yasgur (Levy) $75,000 to rent his farm, a sea of humanity begins pouring into the area.
Something akin to a boom town develops and Elliot is torn between wanting to join the spirited revelry of the invading hippies and his responsibilities. Lee captures this (and mirrors the Woodstock documentary) by utilizing split screen, judicious use of a sea of extras and computer effects to create the masses. Elliot’s warring desires are immediately apparent to Vilma, a militant, unapologetic drag queen with a lot of insight (hilariously played by Liev Schreiber in a standout performance) who shows up and takes on the job of security for the overrun motel. Vilma knows that Elliot is gay and that he’s dying to act on his desire for a hot construction worker he’s met. (The two have bonded over a Judy Garland record.)
Vilma advises Elliot to give himself permission to burst open the closet door on both his sexuality and convention—”I know who I am. That makes it easier for everyone else doesn’t it?” and eventually Elliot does.
The message of the festival and the era looks prescient in retrospect—this “make love, not war” mentality was a call to arms—not just to straight America but to gay Americans and everyone else, too. The idea of everyone coming out and acting on their true desires, following their dreams must have been utterly intoxicating and Lee’s film joyfully manages to capture this small moment in cultural history in all its feel good glory. Taking Woodstock is great fun. In many ways it’s like the ultimate coming out story—what a glorious weekend that must have been!
It’s not really surprising that Spike Lee, after seeing the mesmerizing Broadway rock musical Passing Strange, powered by the creative talents of musician-songwriter-performer Stew, the musical’s subject, narrator and central focus, would want to film it. Stew’s story—a tale of a Black man growing up in the ’70s in Los Angeles with a yearning to break the bonds of a stifling mother and his middle class upbringing who is inspired by a closeted homosexual choir director to strike out for Amsterdam and Berlin, there to find all manner of adventures on his journey of self-discovery a “quest for the real”—is an offbeat doozy. And the musical’s staging—with the musicians right onstage with Stew presiding over them—and a quartet of amazingly versatile musical actors enacting Stew’s tale—is simply but powerfully presented (it’s really both musical and rock concert in one). Lee filmed the last two performances of the musical (which won the 2008 Tony for Best Book of a Musical) in front of the audience and then another performance so his cameras could come in close and catch intimate and glorious moments alike (we also see some backstage activity). The result is a rousing, emotional roller-coaster that’s a must-see not just for fans of rock musicals but those with an eye (and an ear) for something unusual—compellingly so. The movie Passing Strange is available on demand from a variety of cable systems.
Film notes:
—Queer Cinema 102, a five-film event that focuses on offbeat camp “classics”—the horrible, the perverse, the hilarious and the fabulously bad, chosen and hosted by gay film critics—continues Monday, Aug. 31, with Gore Vidal’s 1959 screen adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly, Last Summer. Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Mercedes McCambridge star in this over-cooked, over-literate tale of “decadent perversion” that’s chockfull of hilarious homo subtext. The screening, which I’ll be hosting, will take place in the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, at 7 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and enthusiastic audience participation is encouraged! HannahFree.com is helping to sponsor the series. Further information is at www.queerfilmsociety.org.
—John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus, one of the most thought-provoking, sexy and hilarious movies about sex between folks of all persuasions—my choice for 2006’s best LGBT movie—will be shown at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark, Friday, Aug. 28. There will be a social hour that starts at 7 p.m. with the screening to follow at 8 p.m. The evening will be in support of Reeling 2009, Chicago’s gay and lesbian film festival which will be held Nov. 5-14. See www.chicagofilmmakers.org.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com. Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.