Lawbolisted Powerful

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

eric.hermans The annoying thing about this film is that it doesn't satisfy the lovers of the concert footage or a documentary about Britain's main music festival. Temple seems to be totally in awe of people dressed up in funny/silly costumes and these are repeated over and over again. The scene with the puppet player dressed as a hobo is for instance repeated twice. Why? Meanwhile we often hear interesting music in the background wondering who is playing and hoping to see some proper concert footage. No chance!The final nail in this coffin of a "rockumentary" is seeing Kate Moss a number of times, what has she got to do with a film about Glastonbury.

The_Void Unfortunately, I've never been to Glastonbury myself; and it is for people like me that this documentary fails. The tone of the film is aimed far more towards people that can remember the event themselves, and there isn't a great deal to learn for people like myself that have never been. I saw this film with some people that had been to Glastonbury; and they informed me that the film doesn't even show the best bits of the festival, as while director Julien Temple is busy showing us, over and over again, that the festival suffers from gatecrashers; he completely forgets about many of the events other than the live bands, and the true festival atmosphere never really shines through. Going into this film, I was hoping to see some of the great acts that have performed at Glastonbury; and audiences get treated to performances from great acts such as Radiohead, The Prodigy, Massive Attack, David Bowie and an excellent rendition of 'Waterloo Sunset' by Ray Davies, while having to suffer through drivel such as Morrisey, Coldplay and Björk...it's a real mixed bag, which could suit a range of music fans - but the director cuts the performances with other pictures and sounds, and it completely spoils it. We barely get to hear a full song and it would seem that the more exciting the act, the less screen time it gets. Throw in a completely unneeded segment about the toilet facilities and what you have is a documentary about an interesting subject, made very dull. Most of my enjoyment from this film came from the hope that I'd hear a band that I like soon; and most of the time I didn't. Shame really.

come2whereimfrom 35 years and still going strong this documentary from Julien temple tell the story of one of the worlds best festivals. From day one until the most recent the film is punctuated with memorable performances from acts like the prodigy, pulp, Joe Strummer, David Bowie, Bjork and Dr.John to name but a few. There are moments that gave me goose bumps, I suppose it helps that I was there, but none the less there are some amazing performances. As I started watching the film I began to feel it was very one-sided all great atmosphere and friendly smiles and I was pleasantly surprised when it told the side of Glastonbury we would all wish wasn't there, drugs, robberies (no mention of the shooting in 1996) and it even tells the story of the travellers that used to go to Stonehenge before they were stopped and it briefly touches on the battle of the bean field. Elsewhere it gives an overview of everything the festival has become apart from the music. Wild sculptures, musical jams, costumes and over the top performance art all is here along side the things you'd expect tie dye, silly hats and naked hippies. If you've ever been to Glastonbury then you will enjoy this loving take on all its mystical aspects, if you've never been you'll get to see just what you've missed. Music, mud and mayhem combine to make this an amazing inside glance at a world that only exists for five days once a year.

liz-badgers Living near the Glastonbury Festival site gives me a rather different perspective from that of the visiting Festival fan. And this film offers both views - that of the "local" and that of the visitor to mid-Somerset. Covering all 30 something years of the festival's life, Julien Temple's film distills many hundreds of hours of professional film, archive film and home movie into just over two hours and really makes you feel that you spent a whole weekend there. Just like the Festival, there are different experiences for different audiences and those who love the festival for rock music will have some considerable reward with lovely filming (and soundtrack) of the main stage acts. Others who spend their time in the more alternative areas of the festival are also rewarded with extraordinary performers. A few of the punters are great value too - look out for the young man who had been there far too long although he could just about remember that he arrived "last Sunday". Most interesting for me was the piece of contemporary social history that the film delivers. The first years of love and peace, followed by the travellers' convoys, the gradual growth of the corporate influence and the era of the all-encompassing wall chart our own memories of the festival through more than three decades. Some of the earliest archive footage is wonderful with great characters drawn from Pilton, the village near Glastonbury that hosts the Festival. Television coverage from those years will show you how much life has changed - as indeed have the TV presenters themselves. And the journey that Michael Eavis has himself taken over this mighty era is nicely covered too. The stars of the show are, for me, the family who have the unenvied responsibility of clearing the loos early each morning. Father and his two sons - not men to tamper with - note that it's not a bad job "early mornings and plenty of people to talk to" but the graphic footage of their work might make you think it's the worst job in Somerset! Edited in a way that doesn't do the work for you - years mixed together, no names for interviewees or performers - means you have to keep focused but at the end of the film I was left with a clear and enjoyable image of the journey the festival and its people have taken.