Director Julien Temple's career has contained more ups and downs than a day at a theme park, but things are most definitely in the ascendancy on Glastonbury. A magical documentary recounting the 35 tumultuous years of the Glastonbury Music Festival, this is an exhilarating experience. As long as you take a vat of mud into the cinema with you and spend two hours queuing to use a toilet, this really is as good as being at the festival itself.
Drawing upon 900 hours of footage submitted by Joe Public, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ concert material, 450 hours shot by Temple himself and archival news coverage, Glastonbury is a sprawling affair that succeeds because of its kindred spirit to the festival itself: rough rather than polished; organic rather than manufactured. For the most part Temple tells his story chronologically, tracing the festivals' roots as a hippie gathering, through its CND-supporting early 80s and Traveller-infused late 80s. Significantly, as the event becomes less about counter-culture and more about product placement, the documentary's predominant background noise becomes mobile ringtones.
"FASCINATING SNAPSHOT OF BRITS AT PLAY"
As well as providing a fascinating social snapshot of Brits at play, Glastonbury is also a celebration of the hundreds of bands who've played the festival over the years. Temple never overloads the music - some may consider this a weakness but not this viewer - and selects his acts carefully. Most represent particularly memorable moments in Glastonbury's history, in particular Pulp's storming rendition of Common People in the 90s. Put simply, Glastonbury rocks.