Shine a Light - Review by Casey Chan
Review of Shine a Light – Martin Scorsese
By Casey Chan
Can you picture yourself at age 60 doing what you’re doing now?” asks Dick Cavett of Mick Jagger in a 1972 TV interview. “Easily. Yeah,” replies the soft-spoken rock star. Back then, of course, nobody knew what a 60-year-old rock-and-roller looked like—the question itself implied that the notion was comical. Cut to the stage of the Beacon Theatre in New York in the fall of 2006, where Martin Scorsese and a team of 17 cinematographers captured the Rolling Stones for Scorsese’s concert film “Shine a Light.” The creases in Jagger’s face testify to his 62 years, but the lean, prancing and spinning body tearing up the stage is, if anything, even more exuberant than the boy setting ablaze the Boston Garden in 1965. If there’s comedy in it, it’s the sweet smile of survival that lights up Keith Richards’s grandly depraved face. Or the ageless dexterity of Ronnie Wood’s finger work - and his undying devotion to his Rod Stewart shag cut. Or the look of winded amazement on Charlie Watts’s poker face after the group has polished off an incredible smoking version of “She’s So Hot.”
That 1982 song from “Undercover,” the third in their set after “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Shattered,” may be the least-known song on the playlist, but it’s the moment when “Shine a Light” takes off - check out the erotic body language between Mick and backup singer Lisa Fisher - and Scorsese delivers a Stones concert film of shimmering intimacy. “Shine a Light” has a few tasty backstage glimpses of Scorsese and the Stones preparing for the gig (the co-host that night is none other than Bill Clinton). There are snippets from early press conferences with Jagger and Richards and Watts and the inevitably square men who ask them the inevitably clueless questions about Youthful Rebellion.
But Scorsese isn’t interested in making a definitive documentary, or even conducting the kind of backstage interviews he gave us in the wonderful “The Last Waltz,” about The Band’s farewell concert. This movie is about giving us a privileged glimpse of the Stones in action. It’s a record of an astonishing musical chemistry that has been evolving, with no signs of calcification, for nearly five decades. As a bonus, there are guest appearances by Buddy Guy and Jack White, obviously delighted to be partnering Jagger on “Loving Cup.” The third guest appearance, by Christina Aguilera belting out “Live With Me” with Jagger, is stronger on showbiz flash than real soul.The quality of the band’s playing is matched by the technical accomplishments of Scorsese’s array of expert cameramen (including Gimme Shelter’s Albert Maysles), and editor, who capture the subtle nuances of each member’s performance. Scorsese and his editor, David Tedeschi, spin this prize footage into a two-hour celebration of rock-and-roll longevity. Will the band still be doing it at 70? When you’re having this good a time making music, why stop?
Plot:
Shine a Light is a music documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, capturing the Rolling Stones during their A Bigger Bang world tour. Filmed over two nights at New York’s historic Beacon Theater in the autumn of 2006, the band’s powers show no signs of waning.
Related Links:
Official Site - http://www.shinealightmovie.com/