Roskilde - the Film
22. June, 2009
The Party Perspective
Review: Roskilde (2008), a Documentary film, Barok Film, Director Ulrik Wivel
The documentary film Roskilde has a few music scenes. The film dwells on the absolute extraordinary concerts (for instance The Streets, Franz Ferdinand, Mew, Sonic Youth) performed at the Roskilde Festival within the last decade. But should a documentary on the Roskilde Festival be about music? Festival research shows that not all guests buy their ticket in order to attend concerts. In many ways a festival is also viewed as an extended life style event where the music works as atmosphere smoothing the socialising and partying.
It is about time that the Roskilde Festival’s story is told to the film media. In this sense, Roskilde appeals to most people interested in popular culture and creative industries.
The film director, Ulrik Wivel, has devoted the most time of his documentary to illustrate the performance of ’festival sociability’: Boyfriends and girlfriends being lost and found; world class music being experienced; and not the least exploring living-is-easy.
The film Roskilde is sensation driven. Breathlessly the film takes you through all the Roskilde Festivals’ major scandals: one rape; nine fan deaths due to suffocation at Pearl Jams’ concert in 2000 (the band decided to terminate the concert - and so did the Cure who was scheduled to play afterwards); people running around nude at camp site; larger fires at camp site; mud, mud, mud, and; one drug related death.
Forty years of catastrophes in the Danish festival’s life is boiled down to a documentary film length. Is not very trustworthy though, that these events are not (always) dated. The film gives you a real-time experience (from Thursday to Sunday) and in this sense you are led to believe that you yourself will undergo intense drama in just five days.
Most of the scenes are dedicated to a so called Festival Experience (sex, drugs and rock’ n roll). All though the strongest festival segment at Roskilde is OLD people (nuclear family dads and moms, between the age of 30 and 45, with an open cell phone hotline to what ever family crisis that might occur at home), the film is trying to create the dream of a free floating party life. In this sense the film presents a rather frenetic and hysterical atmosphere – which some might not recognise as the Roskilde festival is famous for its relaxed, laid back, adult, (friendly/loving, not necessarily sexy) vibe.
Though rather hysterical, several of the ethnographic illustrations - the ‘human-reptile-brain-scenes’ - is viewable due to the comical situations. The film’s main characters (post hippies and present day teenagers) are being-drunk-and-completely-wasted-on-a-summer-afternoon: For instance the scene of the Blond-girls-exploding-a-ballooned-condom-with-a-cigarette; there is also the Hippie from Belgium who is overwhelmed by Danish women’s hospitality at the central station in Copenhagen. When two girls explain that beer in Denmark is free to buy anywhere – even on Sundays - and at the same time deliver a promising smile, the hippie from Belgium decides to climb the festival fence at Roskilde. Also the Swedish-yoga/wellness-marijuana-smoking-tattooed-with-the-Roskilde-logo-between-the-shoulderblades-woman is lovingly hugging all the festival guests she meets. In this sense the film (besides the neon-sickening-techno-drug-atmosphere which some of the night scenes are illustrated as) delivers a cosy impression of the festival as a big family gathering at some friendly neighbours’ gigantic garden party.
The former managing director (from 1971-2002) of the Roskilde festival, Leif Skov, is given several minutes of the film to deliver a memento of his life work and dream. Concepts and ideals such as unconventionality, Love, friendliness, Skov argues, is a “symbol of the Nordic countries still being tolerant and visionary”. Film scenes when Leif-Skov-is-happily-observing-his-Meta-Philosophy-come-true, are in many ways okay, all though a cultural industry like Roskilde is a gigantic organisation delivered by tons of people. Still, it is fair to present just that one perspective of a man having a paramount experience where ideals and reality meet. In the future other films about Roskilde can present others perspectives.
Today the former managing director of the Roskilde Festival, Leif Skov, is a board member of the Hove Festival in Norway.
