"Shine a Light" (Documentary/Concert Music) (2008) - Movie Review

I am not a Rolling Stones fan. I have listened couple of songs which I like but not adore upon fanatically. First of all, the expectation on “Shine a Light” was a part documentary and part concert. My illusion was that director Martin Scorcese is going to dissect this long sustaining band with archive footages and current interviews weaved in with their music. It has footages but it is essentially a concert musical film. Hence the review of this film will be based on the presentation more than Rolling Stones music.

Scorcese shot this in two days of concert in the 2006 A Bigger Bang tour comprising guest performances with Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera. The introduction towards the concert is spectacular. With the edged Scorcese waiting for the song list so that he can set up the camera positions and entry marks is witty, funny and gives a semi-fictionalized (as wiki says) insight into this program management. And President Clinton introduces the band and before that meets up with the band members which in its essence tells a lot about the personalities melting down barriers among the ranks, cadre and perception in front of art of music.

And seeing Mick Jagger drenching out every ounce of his energy on to the stage is a spectacle of its own. If not for the wrinkled skin, he as he says in an interview is still 29. He dances crazy steps which do not make sense, he smiles that innocent devious grin in a lovable manner and extracts and pumps up similar energy level from the audience. I did not know almost all of the songs but it is more of the presentation. The editing by David Tedeschi gets a special place in this film as it is the film. There are more than seven angles over Mick, Keith and Ronnie and we get those angles every minute but with no annoyance or motion sickness.

The interview footage from 60s and 70s are placed in between songs so as to give these aged band members the youth they are living throughout their life. Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood conveying their complimenting strategy and appreciation working out over the stage and in personal life too is a priceless interview in the film. The interview footages have a unique appeal to it. Not because of the early stages in their career but the questions which are being asked to them. One interviewer asks whether Jagger is tempted to call it quits feeling every time he might get before a show. And the answers these dozed up artists give carry lot of truth and fun. Another interviewer asks what does Richards feel when he is on the stage and he answers, “I Wake Up”. That is honest, mystical and poetical.

“Shine a Light” is a perfect delicacy for a Rolling Stones fan. I would not say I completely enjoyed it but overall it is a concert to be watched by the fans. The quality and the colour are uncompromising and Scorcese not alone places us in the audience but takes it a step closer. We are in the stage rubbing cheeks with these persistent musicians and dance around with Mick Jagger.