There is such a scene in the movie, when Elliot and the architect ecstatically kissed, suddenly woke up and turned to look at the seat where his father was sitting before, fortunately his father did not see him kissing the boy, but this also implied that Elliot began to awaken himself. It's just that Elliot's gay identity at this point isn't the focus of the movie. The focus is on the inception of the festival, its journey, and its conclusion after three days, and the psychological state of young Americans of that era, including Elliot. Hippies were ostracized by the American mainstream at the time, forming a subculture that prided itself on challenging mainstream consciousness. So hippies are challenging mainstream society no matter how they dress or behave. Most evident in the movie is the troupe that lives in Elliot's warehouse. This can be seen as a way of young people's strong desire for beauty, whether it is to liberate themselves, it may even seem excessive, or to challenge the rules of society, etc. In my opinion, apart from the layer of personality liberation, there are other On the one hand, it is the pursuit of beauty and ideal world in the hearts of young people. In the context of war and other social backgrounds at that time, it was a strong pursuit of beauty. In fact, the Woodstock Music Festival is really beautiful. During the three days, hundreds of thousands of people spent harmoniously together, enjoying music, nature, and the beauty of getting along with each other. No trouble, no violence. Now, it might even be a miracle. In the movie, you can also feel the beauty of this harmonious coexistence, but is everything so beautiful? of course not.
Ang Lee uses delicate and peaceful techniques, from the beginning to the end, to show the cruel face of life under ideal. At the beginning, Elliot's parents' life was difficult. By the beginning of the music festival, Elliot's family had already made a lot of money, but Elliot's mother still tried her best to make money. In the end, Elliot found that his mother had deceived him, and the concert ended. , the dirt and garbage all over the ground, all of which require people to spend a lot of energy to face. this is life. Not everything is so beautiful after a hi-hi. After a hi-hi, someone always needs to clean up the mess, and before a hi-hi, someone needs to take care of everything. There are ideals in life.
But ideals can feed back life. Because of ideals, we can endure all the unsatisfactory life in life, give up the stable days, and be at peace in the turbulent times. Therefore, Elliot finally followed the voice in his heart and left this quiet and dull town to pursue his own world. In this small town, the carnival brought by the music festival will eventually dissipate, and the voices of those who oppose hippies will gradually subside, and will return to the normal at the beginning of the film. Those who opposed Elliot in the tavern, recall the best Taking this music festival as a talking point will not change their lives in the slightest. But this music festival has changed a lot of people, at least Elliot. He saw "what the center of the world looks like" and activated his heart to pursue his dreams. The trajectory of a person's life can be seen from how he sees things.
Last but not least, I have to say that the colors Elliot saw after swallowing the psychedelic drug, Ang Lee's shot is really beautiful.
View more about Taking Woodstock reviews
