Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Festival Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 27, 2017

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".

I think that with the emergence of the internet the right climate for unique and legit time-capsules like Murray Lerner’s Festival will never exist again. Below I will list three crucial reasons that I believe guarantee such a sad reality and instantly make Festival an essential film to view and analyze.

It is not exactly news anymore that the internet altered the way people consume and, perhaps most unfortunately, value music. In the good old days the music industry encouraged the artists to be creative and also had a way of demanding that their work was delivered with a concept. What does this mean? Well, before the internet if you purchased the latest King Crimson or Humble Pie album you knew that you were bringing home more than just a random selection of music tracks -- you were also being introduced to a unique vision that had made something bigger and ultimately more meaningful of these tracks. This was also the reason why a few decades ago a lot of effort went into the art design for each album, and why the artists had a final say on it as well. So the artists knew very well the type of product that they had to deliver while the consumers anticipated it with the vision that was attached to it. This very important equilibrium that for a long time encouraged creativity and quality was destroyed by the internet.

Before the internet the ‘live’ albums also had a specific purpose, which was to give consumers a taste of the exceptional atmosphere that the artists were capable of producing with their music while performing outside of a studio. There was a certain mystique about these albums because they were not very common and they could reveal a side of their talent that studio recordings would typically eliminate. The internet again destroyed the mystique because in the digital era anyone with a camera or even a phone could record ‘live’ content, regardless of conditions, and then quickly offer it for mass consumption.

The final reason is arguably the saddest and most damaging of the three. When the internet changed the consuming and purchasing habits of people across the globe, the music industry also lost the desire to search and invest in genuine talent, as well as support and build content catalogs with long-term goals in mind. So in the digital era the industry and, sadly, the artists became focused on quick short-term profits that massively degraded the quality of the content that was created.

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. Director Lerner visited the Newport Folk Festivals between 1963 and 1966 and attempted to document as much of the interactions between the performers and the crowds as possible. The bulk of the content shows future legends such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, and Joan Baez, as well as lesser known folk performers and bands that essentially share their talent while casually interacting with their fans. Occasionally, the two groups also share their thoughts on the different ways music can free people and help them pursue their ultimate goals in life.

Perhaps the most interesting theme that emerges from Festival is that authentic folk music had managed to give people hope that the future would be better so long as they continued believing in freedom and each other. This remarkable sense of optimism is so easy to detect even in extremely short comments, and frankly today feels indescribably refreshing because it also comes from people of all kinds of backgrounds and ages. Wonderful film.

Festival Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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).

Festival Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Festival Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making "Festival" - in this new program, director Murray Lerner, associate editor Alan Heim, and assistant editor Gordon Quinn explain in great detail how Festival was conceived. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• When We Played Newport - this brand new program takes a closer look at the evolution of the American folk movement. Included in it are Festival interview outtakes, a 2007 interview with director Murray Lerner, and several interviews recorded between 2006 and 2010 with music festival producer George Wein and musicians Joan Baez, John Cohen, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Pete Seeger, and Peter Yarrow. The program was produced by Criterion in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (31 min, 1080i).

• Unreleased Performances - presented here are selected outtakes that were originally recorded by Murray Lerner and his crew. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).
  
  1. John Lee Hooker (1963)
  2. Tom Paxton (1964)
  3. Elizabeth Cotten (1964)
  4. Johnny Cash (1964)
  5. Clarence Ashley (1963)
  6. Odetta (1964)

• Booklet - 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.

Festival Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.