Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIn “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” which opened the Sundance Film Festival tonight on a note of heady historical exuberance, we see images from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, and they’re like dream visions of a promised land.
An ocean of Black faces, stretching back like something out of “Monterey Pop” or “Woodstock.” Performances by blues, gospel, and rock ‘n’ soul artists who just about sear you with their tossed-off fervor.
A mood larger than the event — something soft but crackling in the air.A great many things happened in 1969 that marked the year as a turning point: Altamont, Chappaquiddick, the moon landing, the Manson murders, Woodstock.
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