Quote
gmanp
My dear wife who is not really a Stones fan, but likes some of their songs, has been to concerts with me, etc went with me to see SAL. When we came out she said she could have watched Keith play the entire 2 hours; something about seeing how much the man loves doing what he does, with all the warts.

This quote will be printed out & carried next to me 'eart for a long long time...

Quote
Erik_Snow
As CC so nicely put in a different thread; "it wouldn't been much of a movie, if it wasn't for The Rolling Stones"

That's exactly how I feel about it as well.

disagree about the interviews being useless, they were vital imho ,even though i already have most of them in complete form

actually i heard 38 was the number... there were the main cameras and also lots of people had their own small handycams..


it was very concentrated on mick but lets face it keith was falling apart.

Desktop writing.

I saw it today, @#$%& great, the first part of the show is amazing.
The CD is great too.

Quote
georgelicks
I saw it today, @#$%& great, the first part of the show is amazing.
The CD is great too.

The first part of a Stones show is always amazing. Then they get to the warhorses and it's the same old shit every time.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

I still haven't seen it, my doctor says I'm alergic to Christina Aguilera and shouldn't let her or images of her within 500 feet of my crotch

Hi all.

I have seen it twice.
And, I didn´t know Christina Aguilera,
but she sings well.
It´s not my kind of singer, she´s very beautiful but
she does a very good "live with me" duet with Mick.

I saw it today, and I thought it was great overall. Strong performance from everybody, and Mick sang most of the songs well enough. A couple things I noticed:


-Few shots of Charlie, many shots of Mick
-Although the camera didn't focus on Keith and Ronnie as much as Mick, I think they were still focused on plenty
-Jack White almost ruins Loving Cup by singing in that ridiculous, high-pitched Southern voice
-Christina Aguilera, against all odds, managed to not make a wretched farce out of Live With Me
-The solo on STFD was really boring and not at all resembling or anywhere near as good as the original

Quote
georgelicks
I saw it today, @#$%& great, the first part of the show is amazing.
The CD is great too.

I agree, after seeing it the 2nd time yesterday, I again wish the movie would end after You Got The Silver. I really feel that they lose the audience during the warhorses and it is also during those songs that the mix gets weirder (Keith buried, suddenly really loud for one riff). Up to that point there were also enough interviews to make it a bit more than just a concert movie.

A few reviews.
----------
[www.independent.ie]



Remove youth from any equation that has rock 'n' roll as a component part and there's always the danger that you're left with a formula for a freakshow.

The good news about Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese's tribute to the Rolling Stones, is that such fears aren't realised. Time might no longer be on their side but this concert film offers proof that the group widely accepted as the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band still have what it takes.

Framed around a late 2006 performance in New York's Beacon Theatre, the film offers fly-on-the-Fender footage from the band's A Bigger Bang world tour.

In scenes reminiscent of This is Spinal Tap, Scorsese struggles vainly to get access to the set-list so that he can prepare his crew while the arrival of Bill and Hillary Clinton for some pre-concert photo ops add to a sense that the music is in danger of taking a backseat. Such concerns are rendered redundant, however, as the Stones go into performance mode.

Jagger's famed frontman theatrics lack the vitality of yesteryear but only the churlish will begrudge him this victory lap. The use of archive interviews confirms the suspicion that, with the Stones, it was more about the sound and the spectacle as opposed to having much to say but the intimacy captured by Scorsese's cinematographers ensures that Shine a Light will seem like a trip to the altar for the devoted.
----------

----------
[www.stamfordadvocate.com]



As the camera zooms in on the legendary Rolling Stones during their performance for a new concert documentary, "Shine a Light," a few things stand out - Charlie Watts' precision drumming; Keith Richards' and Ronnie Wood's twin guitar attack; and of course, Mick Jagger's gyrating hip shake. But most striking are the wrinkles - on their necks, arms, eyes and mouths.

These signs of age - captured with extreme clarity by director Martin Scorsese - are so remarkable in that they betray the Stones onstage presence. The blues-rock icons may have lived a combined 254 years, but they still play with the same youthful enthusiasm as they did on their last big concert documentary - the 1970 classic, "Gimme Shelter." Scorsese's film - playing at the IMAX Theatre at the Maritime Aquarium - thus depicts an aging band whose performance is ageless.

Documented over two nights of the Stones' 2006 A Bigger Bang Tour, "Shine a Light" transcends your standard concert film in its level of intimacy. With several award-winning cinematographers working multiple cameras in the relatively small setting of New York's 2,800-seat Beacon Theatre, Scorsese creates a sense of omnipresence for the viewer. On "Sympathy for the Devil," the camera gazes up at the crooning Jagger before swinging around him for a wide view of the cheering audience - in effect, creating the feeling of being both audience and band member. The IMAX Theatre magnifies the film's authenticity, as its 60-foot-tall screen and 10,000-watt sound system create a sense of visual and aural immediacy surpassed only by a real Stones concert.
Though unlikely to satisfy every Stones fan (the band's catalog is simply too vast), the set list includes a plethora of classics such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Start Me Up." The Stones are joined on stage by a superb backing band as well as guests Jack White ("Loving Cup") and Christina Aguilera ("Live with Me").

The concert is preceded by backstage footage of the band joking with Scorsese, playing pool and meeting former President Bill Clinton, who later "opens" for the band. Meanwhile, Jagger labors indecisively over the set list, much to the dismay of Scorsese, who had storyboarded the songs for The Band's performance on its 1978 concert film, "The Last Waltz." To add to his worries, a stagehand tells Scorsese that the stage lights might be too hot, to which Scorses replies, "We can't burn Mick Jagger!"

The concert footage is punctuated by interviews from the Stones' early career. The technique creates a fascinating contrast between the seasoned rock stars, fully settled into legendary status, and their fledgling selves, embroiled in periodic controversy. In a telling 1972 interview on British television, Jagger is asked by a reporter if he can picture himself at age 60 "doing what you do now." "Easily," he replies. Flash forward to "Brown Sugar" - the camera gazes up at Jagger, the wrinkles forming and fading on his face as he struts precipitously across the stage.
----------

----------
[www.heraldnet.com]



Plenty of critics have gushed about the Rolling Stones new concert film, “Shine a Light,” which pairs the venerable act with Martin Scorsese.

Now, I haven’t seen the sucker yet, but I have seen the Stones in concert in recent years, both in person and on TV. And while hey, I like them as much as the next guy, I am in the hang-it-up camp.

So I enjoyed reading the New Yorker’s funny, negative review of the film, which basically concludes that Martin Scorsese should avoid doing what the Stones have done: Played their greatest hits while pretending they aren’t old.

The New Yorker compares Mick Jagger and Christina Aguilera singing together to the "hoarse roar or bellowing" made by Galapagos turtles during mating. Well played, New Yorker. Well played.
----------

----------
[www.sbj.net]



What is there left to say, hear or learn about The Rolling Stones?

For more than 40 years, they’ve been touted as the “world’s greatest rock and roll band.” For more than 30 years, they’ve been the butt of thousands of jokes about their aging process, drug habits and ultimate demise. And they are possibly, in both film and print, the most intensely documented band in the history of music.

So why would anyone need another Stones film after seeing “Gimme Shelter,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “One Plus One (aka “Sympathy for the Devil”), “Rock and Roll Circus,” “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones” and others?

See Martin Scorsese’s “Shine a Light,” and the question will be moot.

All band members are now in their sixties, and The Stones are as vibrant as they have ever been. Frontman Mick Jagger has not only maintained his surefire stage persona but has managed to become a more fluid and graceful physical performer than he was in younger days. He hasn’t lost his sense of playful irony along the way either. The rest of the band – officially, it’s Keith Richards and Ron Wood on guitars and Charlie Watts on drums, but the support group consists of at least 10 more – follow him strut for strut.

While some may think The Stones are caricatures of themselves, it should be noted they have always been caricatures. That has always been part of their charm.

The other reason to see the film is Scorsese’s over-the-top approach to the presentation. Scorsese has already made what most critics think is the benchmark rock documentary, The Band’s “The Last Waltz,” as well as the PBS documentary about Bob Dylan “No Direction Home” and the first (and best) episode of the PBS mini-series “The Blues.” His oeuvre of theatrical films is well-known and much heralded.

Scorsese, in an interview with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine – no relation to the band except both were named after a Muddy Waters song – talks about his obsession with the band and how its music shaped his films from the very start of his career. He says of listening to them early on, “I’d imagine camera moves or editing patterns, and it freed my mind creatively. A lot of that relentless energy went into ‘Mean Streets,’ into ‘Taxi Driver.’”

That energy is evident in “Shine a Light.” Scorsese used 18 cameras for the shoot and hired an array of Oscar-blessed cinematographers to helm them. The result isn’t so much like seeing the band perform the show but being on stage with them. After two hours of it, I was physically drained. Bob Clearmountain, an A-list audio producer/engineer who has a history with the band, did the audio mix.
Many of the clichés the group has developed over the years are readily (in your face, to be more precise) noticeable: Jagger’s mugging, preening and prancing; Richards’ iconoclastic swagger; Wood’s rubber-faced grins; and, as always, the epitome of an English gent, drummer Watts rolling his eyes at the entire carnival. He’s soft-spoken and droll and has one of the best lines in the film. Early on, when talking to a member of the film crew he says, “I love movies ... er, watching them.”

Scorsese does very little background documentation. He uses some pre-existing interviews from the 1960s and 1970s. As he said, “The history of The Rolling Stones is right there onstage, in their faces.”

Jagger originally wanted to do the filming at a 2006 concert on the beach in Rio in front of a million people, but he and Scorsese compromised, and “Shine a Light” was shot at New York City’s intimate Beacon Theater. It was a wise choice.

The first few minutes of the film touch on some friction between Jagger and Scorsese, who are both acknowledged control freaks with different agendas for the two shows being filmed. There are also scenes from the first night featuring Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Hillary’s mother who kept the band waiting for a bit. The two shows were benefits for the Clinton Foundation.

Other guests include Jack White of The White Stripes on “Loving Cup,” Christina Aguilera (who seems entirely unintimidated by Jagger) and blues legend Buddy Guy doing the showstopping “Champagne and Reefer.” At the end of the song, Richards hands Guy the guitar he had been playing and says, “It’s yours, man.”

Little moments like that are very telling. The Stones have always been champions of blues music and blues musicians and have turned many generations of kids on to the blues. The respect the band has for Guy when he’s playing is palpable. It’s a high point in a film filled with high points.

I have seen all of the band’s movies, and seen the band live five times, and while I’ve never lost my respect for them even through a long string of lackluster records, I wasn’t all too sure there was really any reason to see them rehashing their repertoire on-screen yet again.

I was wrong.

For fans of the band, “Shine a Light” is a brilliant piece of work.
----------

----------
[www.ifc.com]



The Film: In the fall of 2006, The Rolling Stones played a series of concerts at New York City's Beacon Theater to benefit former President Clinton's foundation. They invited director Martin Scorsese — who hadn't made a concert documentary since "The Last Waltz," almost 30 years earlier — to film the shows and turn them into an IMAX documentary. Scorsese inserts a mélange of archival interview footage from the band's long career between every couple of songs. The most commonly asked question: When will the Stones hang it up? In one clip, Dick Cavett asks Mick Jagger if he can imagine himself still playing when he's 60. "Easily," he says without a moment's hesitation. Cut to Jagger, age 63, rocking the Beacon to "Brown Sugar." As he did for "The Last Waltz," Scorsese recruited a veritable murderers' row of cinematographers to operate his seventeen cameras, including Robert Richardson, Robert Elswit, Ellen Kuras, Emmanuel Lubezki, John Toll and Albert Maysles. It's not the Stones' first IMAX experience either — 1990's "Live at the Max" anyone?

The Rolling Stones Are: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, with Ronnie Wood on guitar. A few years after the tour seen in "@#$%& Blues," Mick Taylor left the group because of a dispute with Jagger and Richards over writing credits. Wood, then a member of the Faces, had filled in for Taylor and began recording and touring with the Stones, and eventually joined full-time after the Faces broke up in 1975. As for former bassist Bill Wyman, he left the Stones in 1993 to start his own band, the Rhythm Kings. He's never been officially replaced.

With Special Guests: The Stones are joined on stage by guests during three numbers — Jack White shares vocals and acoustic guitar duties with Jagger on "Loving Cup," Christina Aguilera sings and dirty dances with Jagger on "Live With Me," and best of all, Buddy Guy joins the guys for Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer." Guy's no spring chicken (he turns 72 later this year) and he absolutely wipes the floor with the rest of the geezers on stage. It's the one must-download song from the soundtrack.

Best Performance: There's a few other strong numbers besides Guy's to choose from: the set list runs 18 tracks and there are very few duds. Of the old standards, the best is probably "Sympathy for the Devil," if only for the showmanship of Jagger, who's spent a couple songs offstage while Richards warbled a few ditties, and bursts through the backdoors of the orchestra section as he announces "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste."

You Can't Always Get What You Want: Though Scorsese has used "Gimme Shelter" on the soundtrack of three of his films, it doesn't appear in "Shine a Light." Also, given President Clinton's role in the concerts and his appearance early in the film hanging out with the band, was it too much to ask for him to join them onstage? He'd be perfect for the sax solo in "Brown Sugar."

Keith Richards is Weird: Well, right off, his ensemble is weird. He's got a Silent Bob coat with a "Pirates of the Caribbean" pin and a weird schmata — it's not a hat, it's not a bandana — hanging off his head, and the full regalia of earrings and beads and who knows what else. It's also curious to note that, at 62, Richards is far more active on the stage than he ever was back in the '60s and '70s. Obviously, wireless technology has made some of that possible; but watching the Richards of "Gimme Shelter" — who was nearly as stiff as the positively Lurchish Bill Wyman — it's hard to believe he's the same guy in "Shine a Light" who gets down on his knees to tease the front row, tosses guitar picks to fans mid-solo and strolls over to Ronnie Wood to lean on his shoulder every now and then. This, too, is weird, but like most of Richards' antics, it's endearingly so.

Aftermath: Scorsese's involvement necessitates comparisons to "The Last Waltz" which are hard to live up to. After all, that was a concert commemorating the end of a band (The Band, technically). In Scorsese's eyes at least, the moment was something of an end of an era as well. Though "Shine a Light" is a similarly structured concert doc from the same director, it's tonally quite different. As the interviews in "Shine a Light" stress, the Rolling Stones have never and probably will never quit. Members have died, members have gotten ill and come back, members have taken more drugs than Scarface, but the band has persevered. The movie, then, is less about something ending than something that is endless. And why shouldn't such a movie be in IMAX, where every wrinkle is clear as crystal? It's a testament to longevity. These guys are like war vets showing off their scars.

Scorsese offers no reason why the Stones have carried on for so long; I think we need only look to their biggest hit. Only a band in such a perpetual state of dissatisfaction would still be doing this shit well into retirement age. It's not the greatest concert doc I've ever seen; it's not even the best movie I've seen starring The Rolling Stones this week. But with their tickets now going for upwards of $100 a pop, it's a pretty good deal. You'll never get a seat this good at a live Stones concert.

(BTW: This article also has reviews of other Stones films).
----------

----------
[www.metro.co.uk]



Those Rolling Stones prove they can still cut it in this spectacular concert film. Directed by Martin Scorsese (who was also behind 2005's Dylan documentary No Direction Home), it combines footage of two nights at New York's Beacon Theatre in 2006.

It's hard not to be energised by 64-year-old Mick Jagger as he struts and shudders around the stage belting out some of the best songs in the business.

Solos from the haggard Keith Richards are less impressive, but he provokes a certain fascination, while Christina Aguilera, Jack White and Buddy Guy all join Mick for rousing covers and originals.

It would be nice to see more weathered fans in the front row rather than the strategically placed young women but Scorsese lights and shoots it like a dream and includes entertaining archive interview footage reminding us of just how much – and yet how little – these guys have changed.

4 stars
----------

----------
[www.independent.ie]



Cameras Roll Stones Rock
Legendary director Martin Scorsese talks to Will Lawrence about shooting the Stones in action -- and why he prefers making documentaries to features

While he was growing up in New York's Little Italy, Martin Scorsese recalls, the neighbourhood record players and jukeboxes sang the soundtrack to his life. As he wandered from street to street, he'd hear the skittering sounds of swing, the sighing notes of a sweet-tempered ballad, and the rich wailing tones of opera.


For Scorsese, however, it was the sound of the blues in all its varieties that appealed most of all.

"The whole thing was like a series of mini concerts," he sighs, "and I loved to hear the Rolling Stones. The sound of their music, the chords, the vocals, the entire feel inspired me greatly and became a basis for most of the work I've done in my movies, going from Mean Streets to Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino. The nature of the music is timeless for me."

Indeed, the Rolling Stones have entranced Scorsese for so long the 65-year-old director suggests that he has been filming the band for the past 40 years ("this is the only Scorsese film that doesn't contain our track Gimme Shelter," jokes Mick Jagger) and the culmination of that experience has now been rendered as a movie, Shine A Light.

Recorded over two nights at New York's intimate Beacon Theater during the autumn of 2006, the film is Scorsese's tribute to the music that has shaped his career. He forgoes the trappings of traditional documentary in a bid to capture the essence of the Rolling Stones -- namely, their live performance.

"I wanted to do a concert film because their performance is what makes them still so special," he says. "When we started, my editor looked at 400 hours of the historical footage and gave me about 40 hours to watch. Once I saw that, I thought we could make a terrific five-hour film.

"But when I asked them if they wanted to do one about the history of the Rolling Stones, they said that they'd done 25 x 5: The Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones at the end of the 1980s and they weren't that interested in doing it again. So I thought, what could I possibly add? The Rolling Stones in New York with some very clever interstitial moments? All I could bring to the table was something that encapsulated their performance."

And the performance that Scorsese captures in Shine A Light is electric, the film garnering almost universal acclaim when it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. From the opening bars, Jagger erupts as the king of swagger, pouting and preening while gliding across the stage with all the grace of Fred Astaire. Keith Richards, meanwhile, is at his cartoon best ("It's nice to be here; it's nice to be anywhere," he mumbles), while the guest stars all match the Stones' impish delivery as they rattle through Mean Streets anthem Jumpin' Jack Flash, followed by Tumbling Dice, Loving Cup (with the White Stripes' Jack White), Live With Me (with Christina Aguilera) and all the other classics.

"It is a shoot dedicated to capturing the Stones on stage, in proximity to each other," he says. "It's all about their immediacy.''

Scorsese's passion for music, filming it as well as using it, has punctuated his career. As an editor, he helped forge the milestone music documentary Woodstock, while as the director of The Last Waltz he captured an elegiac moment as rock super-group The Band played their final show.

He also directed 2005's No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, painting a surprisingly personal portrait of the singer -- who he never actually met -- and worked as executive producer on PBS series The Blues, directing one of the televised segments.

"In many ways, I like making documentaries better than features," he says. "I mean, I do love cinema, but documentary always fascinated me because of the nature of the way people react. In a documentary, you really get a sense of human nature, and the sense of timing between people. It is so wonderful."

That sense of wonder emerged early in his career. In 1974, a year after his breakthrough film Mean Streets, Scorsese directed his first documentary, Italian-American. It was a portrait of his parents, his extended family and the Little Italy community in which he grew up.

The film is alternately hilarious and harrowing, as it exposes the intimacy and conflict of family life in the tenement where he and his older brother were raised.

The honesty and vitality that inhabit that film shine through in many of his later features. Just consider the scene in Goodfellas where Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta visit Catherine Scorsese (the director's mother) and enjoy a family dinner while a man bleeds to death in the trunk of the car. The dialogue is painfully real.

"I learned so much from doing the documentary of my mother and father," says Scorsese. "The relationship of the two in the film, I found that very interesting. I've seen documentaries over the years by the Maysles [brothers who shot the notorious Stones documentary Gimme Shelter] or by Chris Marker, or so many others, which are more like films, not documentaries. I try to create that in my fiction cinema. That scene you mentioned from Goodfellas, with my mother, that's all improvised. That's all real. It's like Joe Pesci is my mother's son -- that's what that scene's all about -- so we decided that we should get that for real as much as possible. It's always very interesting to me to see moments like that in documentaries. They are very revealing of human nature. It's so satisfying."

Scorsese has now satisfied most of his own ambitions, and he finally won his Oscar in 2007 for The Departed.

"I was very surprised to win," he admits. "Although what I was pleased about was that it was a film that was in the same genre as Mean Streets or Raging Bull or Goodfellas. It wasn't for me doing a children's film or a musical.'"

Scorsese still has ambitions in the realm of rock-doc. "I do plan a George Harrison film," he says, "although that would be more of a personal thing about his life. We had access to the entire archive. And I may do one on Bob Marley too, because of the extraordinary figure he was, musically and politically.

"I like to document what I think is important music. Although I must say that it's not a desire," he flashes a broad smile, "it's a compulsion."
----------

JumpingKentFlash

Kent, have you posted your own review? or: when are you going to see it?

Quote
with sssoul
Kent, have you posted your own review? or: when are you going to see it?

April 18th at 18.30 'o boogie 'o clock. As of right now I've only heard the album (Dig it). Hearing it right now as a matter of fact.
I was going to the premiere in Copenhagen on April 5th, but my mate who was driving and going with me, got ill. So now I'm stuck watching Shine A Light in Århus on the 18th. And I should probably note that it's a very small cinema. BioCity in Århus. Cinema 8. It holds maybe 50 people. I've checked every planetarium for an IMAX screening, but to no avail. So it's a small screen and probably not the best sound system.
Always looking on the bright side of the moon, as I tend to do, I'll probably have a great time when the DVD comes out. My TV is as big as a house, as big as a house.

Damn I should've been there on the 5th. I could kick myself in the nuts (Yes I could. They hang by my heels ).

JumpingKentFlash

I just came back from seeing it a second time, and liked it better. Without all the closeups, one would otherwise never get to see some of the interplay onstage, I still look forward to getting to see some of what they shot and did not use!

A wonderful movie,well done to the Stones and Marty!It reminded me why I first fell in love with the Stones.Up close and personal indeed.Brilliant.The guys show they are still the worlds greatest r n r band.Keep on rocking guys!

Quote
with sssoul
>> Does anyone know what footage came from which night? Can anyone provide a link? <<

the production notes say all the performance footage is from the second night,
but in interviews Scorsese's also said most of it is from the second night.
i recall noticing a bit that was apparently from the first night, but i don't remember
which number that was in - or maybe it was a bit from between numbers.

i'm not sure what link you're looking for, but the setlists for both nights are on this page: [www.iorr.org]
just click on "review" for the Beacon shows ...

Actually, I thought I saw myself in the third tier balcony right before the encore, but I was there on the 1st night, so if it's from the second night, I guess it's not me.

fairly well done review, from a site who would surprise me for being so favorably disposed toward the Stones--it's hardly a music site, as you might notice--except that they've posted similar pieces before (including a glowing review of Rarities, which I also posted here). This review seems mick-centric until a rich paragraph about keith toward the end. Though it also makes a point of crediting the supporting players.

[www.counterpunch.org]

March 31, 2008
Scorsese Does the Stones
First the Sun and Then the Moon

By PHYLLIS POLLACK

The Rolling Stones and director Martin Scorsese deliver an impressive visual and auditory masterpiece with the upcoming documentary film, Shine A Light. Stocked with an arsenal of 2006 performance footage from New York City's Beacon Theater, the two hour film, distributed by Paramount Classics, is produced by Steve Bing, Michael Cohl, Zane Weiner and Victoria Pearman, executive produced by band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. Jane Rose serves as co-executive producer. The film, slated for theatrical release on April 4, is is dedicated to the memory of Ahmet Ertegun.

Having been in St. Louis in 1987 to write a review for Billboard Magazine on the two concerts that were held to generate footage for Taylor Hackford's feature film, Hail, Hail, Rock And Roll, A Tribute To Chuck Berry, for which Stones guitarist Keith Richards served as musical director, and my later having reviewed several other Rolling Stones films, among them, the reissue of that film on DVD, as well as The Biggest Bang, Rock And Roll Circus, Four Flicks, my cherished limited edition release of Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos: Live At The Hollywood Palladium, and my owning numerous other Stones films, a few of which include Let's Spend The Night Together, Bridges To Babylon, Live At The Max, Gimme Shelter, Sympathy For The Devil, plus the rest of the footage that is stashed in my shelves, I knew I would be more than qualified to make a comparison, when seeing what Martin Scorsese would bring to the mix. Many years ago, ever since a friend of mine had given me a bootleg copy of @#$%& Blues, which featured the legendary vision of Keith Richards and Bobby Keyes throwing a TV set out of a hotel window, I was hooked. Since then, I have somehow also acquired numerous other bootleg Rolling Stones videos recorded around the world. By now, I was more than ready to finally witness what the director of brilliant works like Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, Good Fellas, and No Direction Home would create when intersecting with the Glimmer Twins. The result is priceless.

In the early moments of the film, Scorsese and Jagger pontificate over potential song lists, an immense feat in itself, considering the band's prolific catalogue, in addition to the many cover songs the Stones have performed over the years. Scorsese wanted a sequenced set list prior to the show, in order to be fully prepared to get the shots he would ultimately need. With almost twenty cameras simultaneously filming various angles, choosing the shots to be included in the film would require skillful editing, which would subsequently be done by David Tedeschi. The resulting choice comprised of countless close-ups and well-chosen pan shots make the film move quickly. Among personnel working the cameras were longtime pros that include Al Maysles, dual Oscar winner John Toll, and two time Academy Award winner Robert Richardson.

As preparations for lensing the concert are made, a model of the stage set is viewed by Jagger, who comments, "It looks like a doll house." The set is different than other shows on the Bigger Bang tour. Here, there is no B-stage rolling towards the back of the venue; there are none of the usual backdrops or tongue logos. Nor are there pre-fabricated, graphic-filled video screens to watch in addition to seeing the band, itself, on stage. In this sense, the house is scaled down, with the focus solely on the performers and the music.

We see glimpses of the rehearsals, for numbers including "She Was Hot," for which Jagger referred to a lyrics sheet. As expected, the band looks great throughout the film. Bassist Darryl Jones is particularly dapper this evening, fine-tuned for a peak performance. Richards is strikingly elegant, donning a black, glittery bandana. Jagger's energetic non-stop drive is punctuated by his many changes of clothing, well chosen for the evening's attire. The vocalist's glittery jackets and shirts sparkle as they attract attention, while he prances like a firefly, or conversely simmers down at other times during the evening's performance.

Interspersed throughout the film, older Stones catalogue is heard in the background, including snippets from "Paint It, Black," "Under My Thumb," and "Have Your Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow?"

An amazing accomplishment of Shine A Light is the impeccable sound of the film, an audiophile's dream, sound that was masterminded by sound mixer Bob Clearmountain, a highly esteemed producer and studio engineer, who has worked on albums with the Stones and many other artists.

Concert footage from the Beacon includes performances of "Jumping Jack Flash," "All Down The Line," and "As Tears Go By," a song that was also recorded by Marianne Faithfull. The audience is also treated to "Shattered," with its shots of interplay between Jones and Richards. During "Loving Cup," the band is joined by Jack White of the White Stripes, who plays acoustic guitar, as does Jagger throughout the song. Christina Aguilera steps in for a rowdy version of "Live With Me." The tongue-in-cheek number "Far Away Eyes," features Ronnie Wood on his Emmons pedal steel guitar, and back-up vocalist Blondie Chaplin on acoustic guitar. During the chorus, the band harmonizes, making the song as authentically countrified as Willie Nelson, himself, could. Richards laughs during the country gospel tweaked harmonies that strikingly ring as a work of perfection, with tonalities so clearly appropriate for this song.

The film is rated a PG-13. Although during the performances, certain lyrics differ from their original studio recordings, particularly during the live performance of "Some Girls," in no way does this detract from the film, and most of the band's fans likely already have all of the original studio recordings anyway. Some lyrics are changed for apparently no reason at all. During "Some Girls," Jagger inexplicably changes the lyrics from, "Some girls I give all my bread to, I don't ever want it back," to "Some girls I give all my love to, I don't ever get it back." While performing the Temptations' "Just My Imagination," Jagger, playing an electric guitar, ad libs, "But in reality, she doesn't @#$%& know me."

Back-up singer Bernard Fowler, sporting short dreads, is performing next to back-up vocalist Lisa Fischer, who is wearing an alluring black, mid-calf length dress. They both look and sound incredible. Chuck Leavell is seen on keyboards near Tim Reis on horns, as the band covers the Temptations song "Just My Imagination." "Champagne And Reefer" by Muddy Waters is taken on by the band, who are joined by Buddy Guy, and as would be expected, Jagger proficiently plays harp. The band rolls "Tumblin' Dice" during the performance, and other live sequences include "Connection."

Richards greets the crowd by saying, "It's good to see you. It's good to see anybody!" He then performs "You Got The Silver," joined by Ronnie Wood on acoustic slide. Richards, who has silver trinkets hanging from his hair, is also wearing a skull, with two red swords crossed through it, pinned onto his jacket. Richards acknowledges Wood's contribution to the song's performance. "Sympathy For The Devil" is also offered, featuring more shots of Charlie Watts. "Start Me Up" is performed, as is "Brown Sugar," with Bobby Keyes' transcendent saxophone solo. The anthemic "Satisfaction" makes it onto the set list, as well.

Most of the humor in the documentary comes from Jagger. The film flashes back through interview footage from decades ago, in which Jagger tells one reporter, "I never thought we'd be doing it more than two years. I think we're at least pretty well set up for another year." A flashback from a 1972 episode of the Dick Cavett Show offers a view of a heavily mascaraed Jagger, wearing red lipstick with blue glitter on his forehead. Jagger is asked, "Can you picture yourself at age sixty doing what you do now?" to which he replies, "Oh, yes. Easily."

When drummer Charlie Watts is asked subsequent to their second tour in the Sixties about the immense success of the band, and "What happened," his innocently quiet response is, "I don't know."

In other interview footage, Richards is asked what he thinks about during his performances. "I don't think on stage," responds Richards, "I feel." Through Scorsese's lens, in turn, we inherently feel Richards, and at times, the experience is nothing less than hypnotic. Scorsese flawlessly zeroes in on such moments, as he shines a light on Richards. The highlight of the film is haunting, and where Shine A Light is at its most powerful, in the poignant, yet almost painful, cinematographic moment that is so elegantly captured on film, as Richards is seemingly drained on stage, accentuated by his demeanor. Seeing Richards in this immensely exhausted state after his intense performance, we are left as breathless as he is. The impact of the scene effectively drives home the magnitude that Richards has given of himself, both emotionally and physically to millions of fans for over forty years, pouring out both his spirit and soul on stage. The moment is heart-rending, expressive and as compelling as is Richards' performance. Beautiful, yet making one feel awkward and awestricken at the same time, we are taken aback, as we witness Richards' delivery and his alluring presence. We become acutely aware of how much we take from him, and the demands we make, for which he always delivers far more than what we ask.

This passionate scene shows Richards' humanity, bringing to the screen a person who sweats and bleeds, rather than simply redelivering the one-dimensional stereotype that the media has perpetually doled out about Richards for several decades. Here, we see Richards in his most human form, not just the so-called "human riff," but the man, himself, behind the riff.

A segment of the media is another aspect included in the film that is interspersed with press footage, both in black and white and in color, from various tours, going back into the Sixties. Members of the press ask the band ridiculous questions, and are often unprepared for their interviews; despite their credentials and job titles, they are unqualified in a variety of ways to be reporting on the band. One reporter giggles while asking Mick Jagger his age. One portion of footage shows the absurdity of Jagger being confronted by a former Attorney General and religious leaders for promoting "anarchy," as the singer explains that he is not attempting to be a role model for religion. Jagger and Richards are questioned about drug busts, after the two had been released from arrests, and a flurry of rumors had subsequently hit the press. The band is asked about creating controversy, as the next sequence in the film shows the band posing in drag for promotional photos. A late seventies interview gets the response from the band, "Every tour they say is the last tour."

President Clinton makes an appearance on stage, as he had previously done at a Los Angeles Staples Center gig during a 2003 "Forty Licks" gig, and he is briefly seen with his wife Hillary. Jagger very briefly comments on Clinton's environmental organization. Meanwhile, Richards is seen, joking, "Hey, Clinton, I'm bushed!"

The film's ending scene shows the band leaving the venue, as the final shot transcends into a magnificent, panoramic view of New York City, ascending into the night skyline, and then dramatically, the full moon splendidly turns into a tongue logo.

First the sun, and then the moon. One of them will be around soon.

Phyllis Pollack lives in Los Angeles where she is a publicist and music journalist. She can be reached through her blog.

Have now seen the movie three times, each time at an Imax theatre.
Loved it.

i saw it yesterday for the first time (though i bought the cd when it came out) and loved it. i saw it in vienna, and was surprised that there were many teenagers watching the film, even when i have to admit, that there remained plenty of seats unoccuppied.

for me the highlights were shattered, she was hot (i really wonder why they didn´t play it life earlier!), some girls, you got the silver, and all of the duets (especially Champagne And Reefer).

>>for me the highlights were ... and all of the duets..."

I tried to like the duet with Jack White, I really did, but
"Lovin' Cup" is one of my favourite songs and I didn't like
how it sounded. Too countrified or something.

Went to see the film with my wife on the premiere here in Oslo last friday (11.04.) Great! Go and see it asap.
Even my wife who's not a Stones-fan really enjoyed it (so I'm still in the "good-books").

Saw it yesterday and all i can say now its only Rock & Roll

WOW what a masterpiece



It´s Only Rock´n Roll

SAL is at the IMAX, Waterloo, London, all week
from 18th-24th April

I saw yesterday over here in Tenerife, just three people in the theatre, great!!
The copy showed very bad!! bad audio in this copy, just front of the screen sounded YelmoCinePlex Theatres, by the way, but I had the Stones in front of me!
I really enjoyed the movie and the concert, great rythm and was great a little bit shorter it would be great but in general was a really good film!!
Memorable image for me, in movies you always have an image of that or those movies in shine a light, I almost cry, believe me, I was smiling and almost my tear comes out, when Mick and Keith were singing Faraways eyes, check to check, what an amazing moment!!!!
People criticize the moment when Scorces cut Connection, well I liked that, honestly, the song connected with the images, it was great!!!
Another great moments, the end with the Moon and the tongue, the comments of Mick all the time, laughs of Keith all the time, and what a amazing Lion Charly Watts, what a man!!!!
I really liked the show with Jagger, Keith, Ronnie and Wood full of energy!!
Chorus in She was hot were excellent, same as Chuck Leavell in a couple songs, dont know how Jack White and Barby Aguilera were in this film, jesus!!!
Buddy Guy was amaaing as well, Mick was all the time forcing him, play the guitar, come on!! play the guitar come on!!!!
I really liked the moment when Barby Aguilera was with Mick and Keith behing her watching her ass, did you noticed?
I really liked all the set lits, but my best ones faraway eyes, shattered, she was hot, as tears go by, just my imagination, start me up, some girls and the incredible You got the silver.
I noticed the old footage was in another documentals of the Stones before, nothing new for me, just a couple things,

from Tenerife, Spain, just 2 week in theatres over here, tomorrow no more Shine a light, will tell you why? the manager of the theatre will tell me,

Carlitos
Tenerife

i saw it again last night in a "preview" showing for where i live.
the Scorsese Appreciation Lessons i've gotten here on iorr helped - thanks people!
the cuts in Connection hurt just as bad this time around, though: wrong way to treat the music! wrong.

the sound was messed up. the cinema audience was repressed. the Rolling Stones took the place over.
i had towed some not-quite-Stoned people with me, and they were entranced. hail hail Rolling Stones

Saw the film yesterday as it only came into our cinemas her in the German part of Switzerland. WOW! After seeing them live in the small venues Circus and Astoria now a first row movie experience.
I liked the cuts and fast moves of the sequences. I think Mick Jagger was to much spotlighted, but that's a little detail. At first the music was not very loud and felt like any other movie, but eventually this got better.
This movie will never give you the live experience, but it gets very close at times. As Martin said: This is Rock and Roll.
At least one band which does not need any anti-aging or anti wrinkle cream. They are there and they play and if in a good mood they give it all.

I'm gonna watch it for the first time tonight. Yahoooo.

JumpingKentFlash

oh my god where do i begin .lets begin with the great martin scorsese,that says it all the great man that brought us raging bull ,goodfellas,and casino to name a few of his masterpieces.what a awesome movie .first off i got the deluxe 2 cd edition of the soundtrack and the movie was mixed differently than the cd ,in the movie the guitars (keith and ron) are right in your face they dominate everything ,loud and proud the glorious fender and gibson usa sound that we all love .this is the point i saw the bigger bang tour 7 times (msg 05,giants stadium 05,pepsi arena 05,radio city music hall 06,foxboro 06,giants stadium 06, and last but not least beacon theatre 10/29/06 first night,and let me tell you in the seven shows that i seen the guitars were in my face the entire time dominated every part of the sound mix.marty captured what the stones live concert experience is all about .THE MUSIC that we have grown up listening to the soundtrack of our lives .what a respectfull documentation by the great man himself (marty and it shows how great of a fan he really is )one of the major concerns i had upfront was the SCAB PHONY FANS DOWN FRONT that were paid to look pretty or whatever that was a about but the way that marty shot the film they are at best a minium distraction for a few seconds at best i mean yes you will see them briefly when sir mick prowls the front of the stage but thats it ditto for our favorite keyboard player chuck levall and blondie too.micks vocals are amazing ,charlie drumming the backbone of the band and darryl bass work is great and how about a great shout out to lisa fisher and bernard fowler. what was funny to me was we saw pierre one of the guitar techs more than chuck .now on to the guests JACK WHITE what a great and faithfull recreation along side with mick on LOVING CUP wow wow wow . i wish i could say something positive about buddy m.f. guy but sorry a shell of himself (by the way i have seen buddy guy in concert many times so i think i know a thing or two abouy him).and lastly the train wreck known as xtina aguilera BIG MISTAKE MICK YOU OWE THE HARDCORE FANS A BIG APOLOGY really what were you thinking cmon she did not sing she screeched and the crap that you hear about ron and keiths guitar been out of tune no way, xtina was not singing in tune with the key of the song (live with me ) terrible (on the first night at the beacon when they did live with me towards the latter part of the song keith has his back to the crowd and he is standing in front of charlie plying his craft when xtina comes over to him and distracts him, i wish he would have turned around and by accident(ha ha)whacked her with his 6 string but then that would have caused the neck to break at the headstock probably no 6 string could be a match for her big butt which she kept covered with that long white shirt that went past her waist) .how many more tickets did the stones sell to the movie and how many more copies of the soundtrack did they sell because of her name? a better fit for live with me would have been the QUEEN OF SOUL ARETHA FRANKLIN that part was made for her or my favorite SHERYL CROW.BOBBY KEYS BLEW SOME GRAET SAX ilove his sax playing just great !!!.i loved the archival clips in between the songs.to sum up my expierence was like seeing the stones live in concert it took me back that night to the beacon or for that matter to any of the many many stones shows that i have seen over the years.i was singing along clapping and getting HIGH off the the GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD WITH NO FURTHER DELAY 'THE ROLLING STONES' thank you to my friend that has been with me from the first chords of under my thumb in philadelphia at JFK in 1981 thru to the beacon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>the cinema audience was repressed<<

I've seen it three times now and that was the case each time.

But - and you may appreciate this, with sssoul - all three times, after "You've Got The Silver", a number of people in the audience applauded.