Shine a Light (2008)

A career-spanning documentary on The Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their "A Bigger Bang" tour.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Stars:

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mick Jagger	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals / guitar / harmonica
Keith Richards	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar / vocals
Charlie Watts	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: drums
Ronnie Wood	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar
Darryl Jones	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: bass guitar
Chuck Leavell	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: keyboards
Bobby Keys	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone
Bernard Fowler	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Lisa Fischer	...	Herself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Blondie Chaplin	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Tim Ries	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone / keyboards
Kent Smith	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: trumpet
Michael Davis	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: trombone
Albert Maysles	...	Himself - Camera in Hand
Christina Aguilera	...	Herself

Storyline

Martin Scorsese and the Rolling Stones unite in "Shine A Light," a look at The Rolling Stones." Scorcese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the intimate Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Cinematographers capture the raw energy of the legendary band.

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Plot Keywords:

the rolling stones | black and white to color | harmonicist | electronic keyboard | keyboardist | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug references and smoking

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Untitled Rolling Stones Documentary

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,488,081, 6 April 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,355,376, 15 June 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Classics, Concert Productions International, Shangri-La Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Legendary executive and co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, died as a result of a head injury he sustained from falling backstage at the opening night of the two day concert series and their subsequent filming. The film closes with a dedication to him. Eerily enough, this is not the only death to result from an incident that took place during the filming of a Rolling Stones concert documentary. In 1969 a fan named Meredith Hunter was stabbed and beaten by members of the Hell's Angels who were hired as security at the now infamous free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway. This tragic event was captured during the filming of another famous Stones concert documentary, Gimme Shelter (1970).

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Quotes

Keith Richards: Hi, Clinton. I'm "Bushed"!

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Crazy Credits

Closing disclaimer: The preceding interviews and commentaries are for entertainment only. The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the of the individual speakers and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Paramount Classics, Shangri-La Entertainment, Concert Productions International or any of their respective affiliates or employees.

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Connections

References The Last Waltz (1978)

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Soundtracks

Drop Down Mama
Written by John Adam Estes
Performed by The Rolling Stones
Courtesy of Songs of Universal, Inc.

User Reviews

Shine No Light

Scorsese has tried his best to recreate the glory of The Last Waltz but seems to have stumbled at the impossible: how can you recreate or better what is arguably the best concert movie of all time? Quite simply, you can't. The intro to this movie is as strange as its ending. There was obviously some sort of ruckus between Mick and Scorsese, because the lack of backstage footage and constant arguments between the two regarding camera, stage and setlists seemed to have set Scorsese on a "I find it very hard to work with this diva" twist on the movie.

This seems to dissipate with the beginning of the actual concert. Maybe he's trying to tell us that Mick's diva-esquire attitude and pointless demands fall apart and don't matter once they come onstage. It's all lost in the music.

As far as camera-work is concerned, this movie is well above most in terms of energy and fluidness (regardless of the lack of rehearsals Martin seems to emphasise). The two cameras behind the front row of people give a great sense of being in the crowd looking up at Jagger and Richards.

The gig itself is as good as any Bigger Bang tour I've seen. Anyone who has seen the Stones live in the past 5 years knows exactly what to expect and they don't disappoint in this show.

Scorsese cuts to archive footage of the band being interviewed at certain times. As interesting as these are to see, they seem to not fit as effectively as the cut scenes in The Last Waltz did. They almost seem separate to the rest of the film.

The performances by Jack White and Buddy Guy are interesting. It seems like they appeared onstage unannounced and had no previous rehearsal with the band and just tried to play along. Especially for Buddy Guy. His usually inch-perfect solos and licks seem rigid and refrained. Its as if he's waiting for cues from the Stones that never come. Christina Aguilaira's appearance proves she certainly has talent in her well-trained voice, but seems like a strange cameo.

All in all, I'd say this is a pretty decent concert movie, but nothing special in terms of movies in general. If you're a fan of the Stones, you'll enjoy this, but it won't shine any special light on the band themselves.