Review of Gimme Shelter (2013) by Hunter D — 24 Jul 2011

Gimme Shelter is both a showcase for the talent of The Rolling Stones, and a death knell for the sixties. The first half of the film gives us a view of the legendary band on tour, playing a massive show at Madison Square Garden, with Mick Jagger dominating the audience at the top of his game. We also see the band listening to a newly recorded âWild Horsesâ?, and planning and setting up a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in San Francisco. The second half shows us the free show itself, to say it goes badly would be an understatement. By the time the show was over, four people were dead, one of them stabbed to death by a Hellâ(TM)s Angel, a member of the infamous biker gang supposedly paid in beer to provide security.

The documentary started out as a chronicle of The Rolling Stones on a U.S. tour, and turned out to be a first-person view of the anti-Woodstock, the final confirmation that the sixties were over, and that the hippie culture of peace & love spawned by baby boomers was indeed a failure. Watching Michael Wadleighâ(TM)s documentary Woodstock today is probably seen with the same mindframe as Charleton Hestonâ(TM)s character in The Omega Man, where he views the film in an empty theater in a post-apocalyptic city. Some argue that Gimme Shelter captured the death of the sixties, but in my opinion, the sixties had died a few months before the Stones played their fateful free concert at the Altamont Speedway. The Manson Family had already murdered Sharon Tate, showing the world the ugly underbelly of hippie culture. Gimme Shelter simply showed us that there was no hope for the flower children, and that their era was indeed over.

Listening to the Rolling Stones today, itâ(TM)s easy to see why they are considered to be the greatest rock nâ(TM) roll band of all time, their recordings easily stand the test of time. But seeing them perform today, most people my age only see a bunch of skinny old men dressing like teenagers and prancing around on stage, causing many of us to note that the Beatles had the right idea calling it quits at the top of their game. Seeing Jagger play Madison Square Garden in Gimme Shelter reminds audiences today as to why he is the blueprint for the ideal of the rock nâ(TM) roll frontman, he commands the camera and the attention of everyone around him, even when heâ(TM)s not performing. A primary influence on the Stones, Ike and Tina Turner, are seen performing at one point in the film, and Tinaâ(TM)s borderline-pornographic performance shows where Jaggerâ(TM)s cock-of-the-walk strutting comes from.

The other focus of the first half, apart from the excellent concert footage (fun fact: a young George Lucas worked as a cameraman on the film), are the moments of a great band at work, either in the studio or on the road. The Stones are band with a legendary sexual appetite, and Jagger states at a press conference that the band is âmore satisfiedâ? sexually, however the presence of groupies is never felt in the film. Never do we see the band surrounded by women or doing drugs (we do see them enjoying whiskey and beer), though we know these things went on. Instead the Maysles seem more interested in showing us what a band does for work, rather than the tabloid thrills of their play, giving us some enjoyable highlings, including them listening to the fruits of recent studio labor in the form of a fresh mix of âWild Horsesâ?.

Where Gimme Shelter really gets interesting is in the Altamont Speedway concert itself, an event that seems out-of-control from the beginning. Whereas a documentary like Woodstock shows hippie culture as something supposedly beautiful, here it looks nightmarish. Everyone seems to be losing their minds on drugs and alcohol, behaving strangely in front of the camera. A filthy topless girls shakes her breasts to the music, a couple makes out next to their dog, and guy covered in star stickers carrying a pinwheel makes whimsical faces into the camera. Fights break out while The Flying Burrito Brothers play, and during Jefferson Airplaneâ(TM)s set, one of their members gets punched in the face. It all contributes to a sense of forboding that reaches a fever pitch while the Stones are playing, as they are constantly interrupted by fights taking place within the drug crazed crowd. Then, during âUnder My Thumbâ?, a man in a loud green suit brandishing a pistol is stabbed repeatedly in the neck by a Hellâ(TM)s Angel. Itâ(TM)s amazing that it was caught on camera, speaking to the Mayslesâ(TM) ability to move the camera to where interesting things are happening in the heat of the moment. But itâ(TM)s also unsettling, leaving the movie with a haunted vibe, and the 400 Blows-style zoom-in on Jagger and the footage of people leaving the event suggest that pop-culture has changed, and the utopia imagined in Woodstock is now a memory.

Though never explicitly posed, there is a question that seems to hang over the film as to whether or not the Stones are to blame for the violence that took place. While it seems apparent that the crowd was out of control when watching the film, in the moment one has to sympathize with the bandâ(TM)s position. If they simply choose to quit playing, they face an angry drug-addled mob with only a few dirty bikers between them. The wisdom behind the decisions made in the planning of this show was obviously faulty, however the management behind it is more at fault than the talent performing. Holding the Rolling Stones responsible for what took places seems unfair, as a series of bad circumstances led to the actions of a depraved few.

Gimme Shelter is one of the more historically significant rock docs out there. Like many great documentaries, its makers did not plan to see what they ended up showing us. Most rock docs show us a bandâ(TM)s history with a gallery of talking heads, but the Maysles brothers and Zwerin never make use of interviews. Their style is more cinematic than D.A. Pennebakerâ(TM)s total fly-on-the-wall approach, but they choose to lead in the editing room, rather than lead their subjects in the moment. Here they have presented us with a legendary band at the top of their game, riding the crest of the wave before it finally breaks by the filmâ(TM)s end. Itâ(TM)s essential viewing for any rock music lover.