Two movies have rolled into town that are ostensibly about the same subject: the youth (counter) culture of the very late 60's to early 70's. And yet the two films could not be further apart from each other---in tone, in subject matter, and most of all, in location. They present an interesting compare and contrast.
I liked Taking Woodstock; it's a gentle comedy. It's been some time since Ang Lee made a gentle comedy. The tone of Taking Woodstock is light throughout it, and there is a convincing period feel. The first half of the movie is great, introducing a lot of great and interesting characters in the backstory of how the great concert came to be. The second half focuses on the show itself, albeit from the fringes, which is where Lee likes to shoot his movies. There are no musical performances; rather a lot of traffic jams, mud, acid trips, and garbage. The acting is worthy. I liked the kid who was the lead, John-Boy pops up, and Liev Schreiber in a mini-dress is well worth the price of admission. Likeable but odd movie.
When I got to UConn in 1980, there was no counter culture to speak of. There was one floor in one dorm that was "weird." I floated by there a few times, and there was not much happening. What happened to the SDS? What happened to the American counter culture movement?? I think it died with Woodstock, or maybe with the premiere of MacMillan And Wife. I just don't understand why it happened, pffft, like that. Full disclosure: I never liked the hippies. I loved the drugs, and I loved the idealism, and I loved the hippiechicks, but for some reason I always hated the hippies. I had long hair for a while, and I will probably go to hell for that.
The Baader-Meinhof Complex is one of the best movies I have ever seen. As compared with the louche, meandering U.S. version, the German kids were stridently political and active for much longer, to the point of disrupting their country. It was a big point to ensure that Germany never again went Fascist, so the Germans (as is their wont) took it to the extreme in the other direction. And things snowballed. In TBMC, there is truly never a dull moment; pulpy action shots, great set pieces, the screaming of dialectic and endless strategizing propel a charged storyline. You cannot take your eyes off the screen. Bruno Ganz pops up as a German version of McGarrett. The last moments of TBMC are jaw-dropping. Drop what you are doing now and run to see it.