Movie Review – Shine A Light

Gary Pollard

After you’ve seen “Shine a Light” you’re not quite sure whether you’ve just been to a great concert by the Rolling Stones or seen a movie. Once he gets into the swing of things director Martin Scorsese just relaxes and lets you enjoy Mick Jagger and company doing what they enjoy doing. That’s all it needs

Scorsese has had a long connection with movies about music and musicians. He was even an assistant director on the 1970 “Woodstock”. In 1978 he captured a moment of rock history as the Band performed their final concert in “The Last Waltz”. In 1995 he produced a documentary on Eric Clapton for American TV. In 2003 he was executive producer and one-time director of a TV series on “The Blues”. In 2005 he looked back over Bob Dylan’s career in “No Direction Home”.

Scorsese’s long been using the Rolling Stones music in his movies too, one way or another. In hsi early movie “Mean Streets” it was “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. He has used “Gimme Shelter” in three movies – Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed. He has said that some of the songs he used in Casino, Mick Jagger doesn’t even remember recording.

Out of all Scorsese’s work, “Shine a Light” is probably closest to “The Last Waltz” which took the form of a concert by The Band interspersed with occasional actuality and interview footage. Scorsese begins the new one with a few “creative differences” between him and the Stones, who actually produced this film. They don’t much like the set design, they don’t want cameras in the way of the audience, Jagger won’t give him a set list of the songs they are going to perform until the last moment. Maybe these scenes are a little fictionalized. While Scorsese pretends he doesn’t have a list of songs in advance the concert was actually filmed over two nights at concerts in New York’s intimate Beacon Theatre.

Before the concert can get going we endure an almost surreal appearance by Bill and Hillary Clinton that makes us wonder who is kidding who. The Stones are deferential, almost the essence of nice middle-class boys, the Clinton’s seem to be hoping that some of the Stones street cred will rub off on them. It’s hard to see how the Clinton’s meld their ideals of political correctness with the lyrics of, say, “Brown Sugar”. I don’t think there’s much there that Hillary would refer to in polite company.

Anyway, silliness, and meet and greets over, the concert can get under way. Although Jagger was initially fussy about the cameras, Scorsese doesn’t lack for coverage. His list of camera operators is like a who’s who of members of the American Society of Cinematographers and includes Stuart Dryburgh, Robert Elswit, Ellen Kuras, Declan Quinn and Emmanuel Lubezki among others. There’s also legendary Stones documentarian Albert Maysles (who filmed another excellent documentary on them “Gimme Shelter” in 1970). Robert Richardson is the overall director of photography.

Over the first couple of songs, Scorsese seems a bit too spoiled for choice. With editor David Tedeschi he’s cutting too fast, going for maximum effect, pushing a little too hard, and it all seems just a bit too choppy. You find yourself watching the edits more than watching the band.

Gradually though, things settle down and the filmmaking becomes more transparent. Early in the movie one of the Stones is saying he loves WATCHING movies, the implication being that making them is a bit too much of a hassle. Scorsese has brought more filmmaking craft to this alleged documentary than most people seem to realize. In fact, the lighting effects, which appear more towards the end, are designed especially for the movie, to the extent that at one point Scorsese is worrying about whether one particular lighting effect might set Mick Jagger on fire.

Between some of the songs, Scorsese uses footage that looks back over the Stones career. It really does suggest how much the world has changed, particularly when you see old TV programmes whose producers seem to have no idea how to talk to the rock musicians. In fact they don’t even seem to live on the same planet as them. The Stones, it seems, haven’t changed half as much as the world around them.

And that even extends to their ability to perform. Now in their sixties, and having led the lifestyle they have, according to medical science, the members of the band shouldn’t be around, let alone able to strut the stage as they do. As Keith Richards says at one point “It’s good to see you. Let’s face it, it’s good to see anybody”.

I’m an averagely enthusiastic fan of the Rolling Stones, have a few of their albums, but the key thing about them is not that they are a band whose songs you want to listen to in a detached way, The key thing is that they are a terrific live band, embodying the spirit of rock and roll on stage. Jagger is a whirlwind, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, after a sometimes aggressive past now seem to thoroughly enjoy each others company – on stage anyway – and Charlie Watts provides a solid foundation for the others. They’re also accompanied here by several back up musicians and singers and guest stars Jack White from “The White Stripes”, Christina Aguilera, and – most spectacularly of all – Blues guitarist and vocalist Buddy Guy.

There’s a lot to enjoy in this film, or this concert, whichever way you want to think of it. But Guy’s appearance on the stage, and his jamming with Jagger, Richards and Wood, is a moment of bliss. While the other guest stars acquit themselves well enough, Guy knows he belongs there. He gives as good as he gets, and the whole bunch of them enjoy it so much it’s infectious. I really did find myself smiling with delight at so many moments of this film. The appearance of Buddy Guy is one of them. There are more when Keith Richards takes centre stage, whether he actually is singing a solo, leaning on Ronnie Wood or playing guitar duets with him, or even just playing great guitar riffs himself, sometimes almost throwing the guitar away with disdain.

In one of the interview segments, Keith Richards says that they don’t think when they are on stage. They are just there, totally in the moment. Perhaps ultimately the greatest thing you can say about “Shine a Light” is that so are you. And if you’re even slightly interested in blues based rock music, or the Stones themselves, it’s a great place to be.