Directed by:
Julien TempleCinematography:
Ben SmithardCast:
Björk, David Bowie, James Brown, Nick Cave, Joe Strummer, Thom Yorke, Billy Bragg, Morrissey, Paul SimononPlots(1)
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, a county in the south-west of England. The nearby town of Pilton is the venue for the oldest pop festival in the world, a festival that has taken place – apart from a few interruptions – almost annually since its inception in 1970. Glastonbury is a mystical, legendary place. The same goes for the festival that is its namesake. Over thirty years ago, when a young farmer named Michael Evans mounted the first "Pilton Festival", there were 1,500 spectators. For an entire summer weekend, the crowd were treated to home-grown pop groups and some of the great names in the world of folk – and all of this for one English pound. A year later, 12,500 fans made their way to Somerset to see stars like Joan Baez and David Bowie. The festival has always made a good subject for filmmakers; Nicolas Roeg made his "Glastonbury Fayre" as early as 1973. Images from his film are to be seen in Julien Temple's film, as are other excerpts from footage taken at later festivals, material from the BBC's archive and extracts from amateur footage recorded by many anonymous festival-goers. Recordings of performances exist for almost every year of the festival. Among the many recording artists included in this film are Alice Coltrane, Babyshambles, Björk, Blur, the Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Faithless, Fat Boy Slim, Joe Strummer, Massive Attack, Melanie, New Order, Oasis, Primal Scream, Pulp, Ray Davies, REM, the Scissor Sisters and Velvet Underground, to name but a few. The film also portrays different generations of enthusiastic fans and their experiences at the festival site. In this way, Julien Temple's film documents – more emphatically than in the music recordings – the cultural transition which the festival and its audience have undergone during the last thirty years. (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Björk
Iceland
Best movies:
The Work of Director Chris Cunningham (2003) (video compilation)
Björk: Volumen (1999) (video compilation)
Live 8 (2005) (concert)
David Bowie
UK
Best movies:
The Freddie Mercury Tribute: Concert for AIDS Awareness (1992) (concert)
Le Prestige (2006)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
James Brown
USA
Best movies:
Rocky IV (1985)
Les Frères Blues (1980)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Nick Cave
Australia
Best movies:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: The Videos (1998) (video compilation)
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace (2020) (concert)
Les Ailes du désir (1987)
Joe Strummer
Turkey
Best movies:
Mystery Train (1989)
I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
Rude Boy (1980)
Thom Yorke
UK
Billy Bragg
UK
Morrissey
UK
Best movies:
Morrissey: ¡Oye Esteban! (2000) (video compilation)
Paul Simonon
UK
Best movies:
The King of Comedy (1982)
Rude Boy (1980)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)