Shine A Light
Thrilling music documentary in which director Martin Scorsese looks back on the mythical career of the world’s most successful rock band: The Rolling Stones.
First of all, SHINE A LIGHT is a concert registration of two performances at the Bacon Theater in New York. It shows the members of the Stones, despite their ages and excessive lifestyles, at their best. In line with the well-known Scorsese method, who also made the showstopping documentary THE LAST WALTZ about The Band, the registration is interspersed with fragments of old interviews. The result is glorious.
The direct cause for this screening of SHINE A LIGHT is the unfortunate passing of drummer Charlie Watts. With his jazz-influenced drumming style he early on created a simple but highly effective foundation for the impeccable career The Rolling Stones would have. He made the music of the Stones danceable. Yet, character-wise he was just as much the band’s cornerstone: where as Richard and Jagger would often lose themselves in extravagance, Watts, until the end, seemed content with a much simpler lifestyle.