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| Jimi
Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Jopin, Simon & Garfunkel,
The Mamas and the Papas, The Who |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Otis Redding: This is the
Love Crowd, right?...
A documentary account of the 1967
Monterey International Pop Festival.
 From
a purely cultural perspective, Woodstock was the most momentous
and influential
music festival of the late 1960s, and perhaps even of all time.
But from a musical perspective, the Monterey festival, a much
smaller-scale affair as far as the numbers of visitors were concerned,
was a much more influential event. This
three-day festival and resulting documentary film not only served
as a calling-card for the hippie counterculture; it also went
a
long way towards legitimizing rock music in its many varieties
as a genuinely artistic form of expression. Until that time,
it had
been perceived as a strictly commercial phenomenon: a soulless
vehicle for generating cashflow, without the complexity and prestige
of jazz or classical music.
The immense variety of soulful performances at Monterey Pop went
a long way towards convincing a skeptical public that there
might
be more to rock than had previously been the consensus opinion.
Ranging from the soul music of Otis Redding to the acoustic folk
of Simon
and
Garfunkel,
from the electrifying guitar solos of Jimi Hendrix to the esoteric
Ravi Shankar, the documentary made by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker
took
the simple
approach of including one track per performing artist, without
much attention for the audience or the festival's further context.
At
its modest 90-minute running time, it has always left the fans
howling for more, and more is definitely what we get in this
three-disc
DVD collection. For not only is the original concert film included
here, there's also the shorter films that appeared in the 1980s
with the full performances of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding, as
well as an enormous collection of outtake tracks by the other
artists. |
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Available only as an immaculately packaged
three-disc collection without region encoding from the Criterion
Collection.
The fullscreen image is framed
at its original aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1. The result of the
restoration oefforts undertaken for this DVD release are nothing
short of phenomenal: none of the fading one is accustomed to seeing
in concert fotage from this era is visible here, with the transfer
boasting strong, deep colors and hardly any grain. The outtake tracks
don't look quite as good as the three fully restored features, but
even that quality is more than acceptable.
A DVD like this is all about the music, and the Criterion Collection
has provided the whole spectrum of audio choices on this release.
The original stereo mix is on-board in Dolby Digital 2.0, but the
new discrete 5.1 mixes are the true accomplishment here. Available
in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, these mixes offer a hugely
impressive presentation of these classic performances. Both present
broad, deep and convincingly full-sounding soundfields, but the
DTS mix has slightly better bass response and a little more breathing
room in the upper dynamic ranges.
As if the inclusion of all three
Monterey documentary films along with over two hours of incredible
outtake tracks weren't enough, there's an additional wealth of supplementary
material here that manges to throw in anything worthwhile that's
related to the festival or that could help place it in its proper
historical context. For starters, there are outstanding audio
commentary tracks for the three main features, as well as numerous
interviews with key organizers and filmmakers, both new and
archival.
But these extras soon turn out to be only the tip of the iceberg
in this immense collection. It would take the better part of a
full
week to work your way through the extensive collection of image
galleries, photo essays, prmotional materials and the contents
of
the beautiflly designed 60-page book included in the box. The packaging
also deserves a few extra words, as it's easily one of the most
elaborately and finely deisgned packages yet to appear on the market.
It's similar to the Godfather DVD Trilogy box set, with
the three discs each held in individual cardboard slipcases, which
fit
together snugly along with the 60-page book in a sturdy cardboard
box. As with The Godfather, the only drawback is the fact
that you have to take care which way you hold the box, as the
contents
are liable to slip out. And while we're on the subject of packaging:
don't forget to look inside the back cover of the box for a
nice
hidden surprise...
We'll conclude the review with the words that this is without doubt
one of the most thorough, elaborate and exquisitely designed releases
yet to appear in the already hugely impressive Criterion Collection
catalogue. With its top-drawer technical specifications and comprehensive
supplements, it even bests their three-disc set of Brazil,
the perennial crown jewel in their collection. The only caveat
for The Complete Monterey Pop Festival is the release's
appeal, which is bound to be rather limited in nature due to the
subject
matter. As a film, Monterey Pop is neither as innovative
nor as technically proficient as some of Pennebaker's other documentaries
from this period, limiting the film's audience to those with a
strong interest in the music and history of that time. But as
a historical
document of one of the major events in music history, this release
is unchallenged. In conclusion, here's the full list of features:
- New high-definition digital transfers, supervised by D.A.
Pennebaker
- New 5.1 mixes by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer,
presented in Dolby Digital and DTS
- Two hours of performances not included in the original
film, from the following artists: The Association, Big Brother
and the Holding Company, The Blues Project, The Byrds, The Paul
Butterfield Blues Band, Country Joe and the Fish, The Electric
Flag, Jefferson Airplane, Al Kooper, The Mamas and the Papas,
Laura Nyro, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Simon and Garfunkel,
Tiny Tim, and The Who
- Audio commentary on Monterey Pop by Festival
producer Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker
- New video interview with Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker
- Audio interviews with Festival producer John Phillips,
Festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot
and David Crosby
- Photo essay by photographer Elaine Mayes
- Original theatrical trailer for Monterey Pop
- Original radio spots for Monterey Pop
- Monterey Pop scrapbook
- Audio commentary on Jimi Plays Monterey by
music critic and historian Charles Shaar Murray
- Two audio commentaries on Shake! by music critic
and historian Peter Guralnick: the first on Otis Redding’s
Monterey performance, song by song; the second on Redding before
and after Monterey
- Interview with Phil Walden, Otis Redding’s manager
from 1959 to 1967
- Original theatrical trailer for Jimi Plays Monterey
- Video excerpt: Pete Townshend on Monterey and Jimi
Hendrix
Menus are fully animated and impeccably
designed on all three discs in the collection, offering superlative
navigation options with detailed explanatory footnotes.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
December 14, 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Monterey
Pop.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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