Review of Shine a Light (2008) by Justin Y — 30 Jun 2009

One of the most interesting things about Martin Scorcese to me is his ability to adapt himself to the specific subject of his movies. Again he adapts himself here to the form of the concert documentary, and while he does not achieve as deeply sociologically moving a result as his other concert doc, The Last Waltz, Shine A Light does manage to be a bit deeper than it might first appear.

Maybe I'm just reading into it and looking for more meaning because I know it's Martin Scorcese, but regardless, the thing I get here is a sparsely painted portrait of the Rolling Stones as a one of a kind thing in the history of our culture. Scorcese remains pretty respectful of the concert footage throughout the film and allows most of the performance footage to play without interruption, however in between performances, he interjects old interview footage of Jagger, Richards and the rest of the band that puts the concert into a historical perspective.

And I think that's the point Scorcese's making, which is simple but powerful. The Stones are not only a bona fide part of our cultural history, they played a large part in defining the culture of Rock, well beyond the music and even the image. They defined Rock in feeling. The interview footage Scorcese found and intercut here calls attention to that, and therefore enriches and informs the viewing of the performance footage. It's like the interview footage subconsciously tells you what you're going to see in the performance footage.

For instance in one bit of really old footage, Jagger is asked "What are you thinking when you're on stage?" and he replies, "I'm not thinking, I'm feeling. It's all about feeling." When you watch the performance footage after seeing him say that, you really see what makes sense in the way he performs on stage. The way he struts around and flails about unpredictably is all connected to one thing: feeling the music. It's not about playing it well or even putting on a show. It's about connecting to the sound. The way Mick Jagger sings and dances on stage during a live performance with the Rolling Stones is one of the most complete and comprehensive expressions of what Rock N Roll is.

The other thing that becomes obvious between the interviews and the performances stuff is that there is something extraordinarily unique about the fact that these guys have been around doing this for 50 years. I can't help but think about Robbie Robertson in The Last Waltz talking about why he's retiring: "After 16 years on the road, the numbers start to scare you. I couldn't live with 20 years on the road. I don't think I could even discuss it." Well, the Stones took that sentiment, multiplied it by 3 and tossed it out the window. Every moment on stage, I'm looking at them and thinking, "Wow, that dude is older than my grandfather, and he just dry-humped Christina Aguilera's butt. And she even seemed to like it." There's something kinda awesome about that. Not sure if it's a, "you're only as old as you feel" sort of thing, or if it's a "never stop doing the thing you love," sort of thing or what. But it's kinda neat.

But in all honesty, let's not kid ourselves here, this is a concert doc, so the first and really only reason to watch it is if you like the music. So from the point of view of being a Stones fan, I've never seen them live and I haven't been as big a fan since the 80s or so. Like The Band in The Last Waltz, the Stones have played with some eclectic musical styles and they show off some of their eclectic nature here, but they generally fall back on the simple bare bones rock sound that made them famous. Again, it's not about how it sounds, it's about how it feels, and with Jagger conducting the feelings, it's electric. They play a pretty decent spread of the big popular hits plus some of their more obscure works and a couple of really well done covers. Special guests include Jack White, Christina Aguilera, Bill Clinton shows up to hang out before the show, but most notably, Buddy Guy turns in an epic blues performance of an old Muddy Waters tune. Guy has a powerful presence on stage that seems to intimidate even Jagger and Richards, which looks like no small feat.

Ultimately, there's really only 2 reasons to watch this film. If you're a Stones fan, you should watch it. And if you're interested in the history of music and music culture, you should watch it. If you're looking for anything else, you won't really find it. But if you're looking for that, Shine A Light delivers in spades.