http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=8043The DVD Experience: ‘Shine a Light’ captures Stones
and Scorsese at a shared peak of their respective crafts
BY MICHAEL H. PRICE
July 22, 2008
The Stones don't stop rolling onShine a Light, just now arriving in digital video from Paramount Vantage (DVD, $29.95; Blu-Ray, $34.95), captures the Rolling Stones — somewhat arbitrarily recognized as the World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band — in the act of defending the title without conscious effort. One gets the impression that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Charlie Watts et al. scarcely could care less about whose band is the “greatest” — they’re here for the music.
And the music, in turn, drives the assembled Stones to levels of accomplishment that defy both the sickness of nostalgia and the gravitational tug of the aging process.
The most arresting moment in all this new-from-2006 footage by Martin Scorsese is, in fact, not new footage at all: Scorsese also has sprinkled Shine a Light with archival film-and-video clips from the 1960s, and in one of these segments an interviewer asks a boyish Mick Jagger whether he might envision himself still performing with the Stones at some advanced age. Jagger’s affirmative answer sounds half-naïve and half-wise, part-boast and part-prophecy. And more power to him.
Certainly, the concept of “still performing” beyond one’s predictable prime of vigor can be a mixed blessing. Many rock ’n’ roll stars, of earlier and later vintage alike, have kept up the performance grind while failing to keep up their chops, or their adventurous spirit, or even their basic health. Ronnie Spector, the great American girl-group singer of a time slightly before the Stones’ emergence from England, allowed herself to become an “oldies” act — a hateful, defeating term, that — before she had turned 30. And the less said, the better, about such nostalgia-treadmill acts as Fleetwood Mac and the Doobie Brothers have made of themselves.
But the Rolling Stones, now — even their revivals of such early-day standards as “As Tears Go By” and “Tumbling Dice” bring into play a sense of new invention. The players do not lunch out on any “good old days” vibe so much as they draw from a huge catalogue of material in search of new interpretations. Who wants to hear a favorite song “just like the record” when the record remains there for the listening and, meanwhile, there are new directions in need of forging? The Stones’ camaraderie and enthusiasm at once honor and belie the members’ many shared years, as though each new appearance were a début.
Jagger in his 60s is recognizably the Jagger of the 1960s, especially in his athletic stage presence and insouciant generosity. The man radiates benevolent, rambunctious authority, and drummer Watts and guitarist Richards appear delighted to be on deck.
Comparative newcomer Ron Wood — he joined up as a guitarist during the 1970s, sublimating a promising solo career in something of a Bob Dylan vein — supplements Richards’ economical licks to good twin-guitar effect, often veering into slide-guitar. Bassist Daryl Jones, even “newer” to the band as of some 17 years ago, anchors the sound most pleasingly, an unassuming stage presence contrasting with his emphatic playing.
Shine a Light also teams the Stones with Christina Aguilera, here, and Jack White, there. Aguilera’s duet with Jagger on “Live with Me,” heightens the erotic tensions of that song to an extent that might be unimaginable if not for the immediacy of the performance. Guest guitarist-vocalist Buddy Guy, an eminence grise of the Chicago blues style that had helped to inspire the Stones’ earliest efforts, shows up as a welcome scene-stealer.
Filmmaker Scorsese might have been expected to confront the Stones with some penetrating questions, the way he had done in dissecting the phenomenon of Bob Dylan in No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005), or with The Band in The Last Waltz (1978). But then, the Stones state their own case with depth and humor, largely through their self-renewing approach. Scorsese’s use of the archival clips from ’way back when is nonetheless revealing: Why would anyone be surprised that these guys have lasted and prevailed? The strategy was in place at the beginning.
Scorses pokes fun at himself in the picture, devoting some early scenes to a real-time diary of his frustrated efforts to develop a filming plan. Scorsese knows what manner of picture he intends to make, he has assembled all the gear and all the crews in the right locations, and the band knows he is coming along — but the Stones have not yet informed him as to what songs they’ll be playing in what order. This small comedy-of-errors provides an ideal subtext while emphasizing the spontaneity that has kept the Stones a vital presence.
Shine a Light boasts a rich and crisp audio design, bringing out nuances in the music — even the proto-grunge material from the Exile on Main Street album — that will surprise many listeners. The instrumentation is delightfully varied, ranging from delicate 12-string guitar work on “As Tears Go By” to Buddy Guy’s searing rasp of a voice on “Champagne and Reefer.” Keith Richards asserts his vocalizing ability during an interlude, and the concert overall moves in a headlong rush. Camera chief Robert Richardson, long associated with Scorsese, brings the viewer into seemingly intimate contact with all that energy — not so much a front-row seat, as virtual carte blanche to prowl the stage in close communion with the band.
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