The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light

Goodfellas with guitars

Martin Scorsese’s much-hyped concert movie more than lived up to expectations, and even on the small screen it doesn’t disappoint. The global juggernaut that is the Stones on tour is easy to knock, an unbending behemoth that flattens all in its wake. By taking the band back to a (relatively) small indoor theatre, Scorsese has helped them reconnect with their roots. Strutting cocksure across the stage of New York’s Beacon Theatre, the Stones are reborn, aided by a setlist heavy on songs from 1978’s Some Girls, itself a kind of mood poem to Manhattan. The intimacy with which Scorsese films his subjects, cameras all but nestling in the lines of Mick’s or Keith’s faces, breaks down the barriers of minders and managers that have previously made them seem so detached from their audience.

Scorsese makes himself part of the story in the preconcert sequences, wrangling with the band over what songs are to be played and when, so that he can map out his shooting script. He presents the Stones as the rock gods they’ve been for decades and shows them as whim-driven human beings who occasionally need prodding into place. One of the best live films you’ll ever see, and unthinkable in another director’s hands.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

20th Century Fox | 3836301000

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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