7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Before Woodstock, there was the Newport Folk Festival, which was established in 1959 as a counterpart to the local jazz festival. This documentary focuses on some of the festival's most memorable and influential years — 1963 through 1966 — and the footage captures performances from the likes of Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Pete Seeger, among others. The artists also ruminate on the roots of their sound and the enduring appeal, and importance, of folk music.
Starring: Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Theodore Bikel, Mike BloomfieldDocumentary | 100% |
Music | 58% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Murray Lerner's "Festival" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include new video program with director Murray Lerner, associate editor Alan Heim, and assistant editor Gordon Quinn; new program about the production history of the film; and a collection of unreleased performances. The release also arrives with a 40-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Amanda Petrusich and artist biographies by folk music expert Mary Katherine Aldin, as well as technical credits. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Murray Lerner's Festival arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 16mm original camera negative and was approved by director Murray Lerner. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The monaural soundtrack, also supervised by Lerner, was reconstructed and remastered primarily from high-resolution transfers of the original quarter-inch magnetic concert and field recordings, combined with the 35mm, three-track DME (dialogue, music, and effects, magnetic soundtrack. This process effectively removed three generations of transfers, limiting, and distortion, allowing viewers to hear the original masters recorded at the festival. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.
Restoration supervisors: Lee Kline, Murray Lerner.
Colorist: Jason Crump/Metropolis Post, New York.
Soundtrack reconstruction: Ryan Hullings, Eliot Kissileff/MLF Productions.'
As there is footage that was shot under different conditions some minor density fluctuations remain, but even during the live performances or the casual interviews detail and clarity are typically excellent. Obviously, as it is usually the case with 16mm content from the era grain is a bit more pronounced, so the larger your screen is, the more noticeable these effects would be. You will also notice that depth can fluctuate depending on how light is captured by the camera. The grading is excellent; blacks and whites are wonderfully balanced while the grays have plenty of nuances. Image stability is excellent, but keep in mind that there is plenty of hand-held camera movement. Age-related imperfections have been eliminated as best as possible. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Subtitles are provided, but only for identification of the individual performers/acts.
Even if technical credits were not provided in the booklet that accompanies this release, I think that the overwhelming majority of viewers would have immediately figured out that a lot of serious work was done to clean up, stabilize and rebalance the audio as best as possible. Frankly, the end result is hugely impressive. It literally feels as if all of the concert footage was shot just weeks ago. Fantastic work.
We may very well be less than a generation away from having kids genuinely wondering what it was that united and excited all the people that you see in Murray Lerner's Festival or Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock. You think that it is a ludicrous prediction? Well, a decade ago, did you think that there would be kids that will argue that going to the local theater is a waste of time because they can watch the latest big-budget blockbuster on their phone? While it is certainly true that technology has made access to all types of different content a lot easier, it has also devalued plenty of it and created legions of consumers that now proudly choose quantity over quality. Festival offers an unforgettable trip back to an era when there was genuine enthusiasm for great original content and desire from artists and fans to connect through the power of music. It is an essential film to see, which has been recently restored in 2K and now has transitioned to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. If you enjoy Monterey Pop, Dont Look Back, Gimme Shelter, or Woodstock, it should have a reserved spot in your collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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1974
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2002
Remastered
1968
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1973
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