Glastonbury The Movie In Flashback (2012) Review

Glastonbury The Movie In Flashback is a documentary based on the world famous British music festival. It was originally released in 1996 with the title "Glastonbury The Movie", produced and directed by Robin Mohoney. Mohoney then re-edited and compiled the clips filmed during the 1993 festival, to create this new piece of film.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the premiere of the film at the Ciné Lumière in London (this is a rare occasion for me!) Although it wasn't a red carpet event like the ones made for mainstream cinema, it was a privilege to see all the people that had contributed to the film gathered in one room. Before the showing of the film, there was a Q+A with Robin Mahoney and it was really interesting to hear how and why he made the alterations he did and felt the need to remake the film. Having had the context from the director and producer beforehand, it made me appreciate and notice the way it was edited and polished off more so than if I had gone in not knowing. I feel that editing is often the part of film making which is taken for granted, as many audiences are more focused on the visuals and the sound.

I personally love documentaries, especially music documentaries but sometimes they can focus too much on filming people talking. However, the structure of this was done is such a way that it had a perfect balance of both interviewing and showing what it was like to be at the "old-school" Glastonbury. Mahoney kept the audience engaged by showing interviews made with normal people at the festival at the time, and because it was shot before TV started broadcasting the event, it gave a raw and accurate insight into the festival's culture. The slogan "The ultimate festival trip" couldn't be more appropriate as it really did throw you right into the festival and with the warmth of the shots, I was emerged in festival life for that 101 minutes.

The soundtrack couldn't have been better suited as it was taken from performances that were filmed at the festival, bands such as Lemonheads, Omar and a young The Verve all featured and captured the original Glastonbury philosophy, as it all started out as a free event just doing it for the music. Much to the audience's amusement, there were interviews with protesters complaining about rumours of the festival charging "£5 for entry", little did they know that would soon turn into £300!

Overall, I really enjoyed being enlightened to what life at Glastonbury was like before I was born and Mahoney accomplished creating a film which presents how a music festival can cause such a powerful unity between people.



Hannah Jolley

You can buy Glastonbury The Movie In Flashback on DVD here