Shine a Light
by Martin Scorsese
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Rolling StonesDirector: Martin Scorsese
Brand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-07-29
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Product features:
- DVD
- Rolling Stones
- Format DVD
Movie Reviews of Shine a Light
Movie Review: Smashing!!!!!!! Scorcese & Stones: A Perfect Match
Summary: 5 Stars
Set List:
1) Jumpin' Jack Flash
2) Shattered
3) She Was Hot
4) All Down the Line
5) Loving Cup (w/ Jack White)
6) As Tears Go By
7) Some Girls
8) Just My Imagination
9) Faraway Eyes
10) Champagne and Reefer (w/ Buddy Guy)
11) Tumbling Dice
12) You Got the Silver
13) Connection
14) Sympathy for the Devil
15) Live With Me (w/ Christina Aguilera)
16) Start Me Up
17) Brown Sugar
18) Satisfaction
Though the actual track 'Shine a Light' from Exile on Main Street is not played during the (film version of this) set, it is an excellent title for this rock documentary as Martin Scorcese is shining a light so to speak on the Stones themselves, and this light shines mighty bright and mighty close. But Scorcese is not as invasive as you might expect. And this documentary/concert film does not feel like an expose as much as a celebration of a band that still has some kick left in it. Instead of being overly reverent and even elegaic (as perhaps he was in The Last Waltz) Scorcese, takes a lighthearted & lighthanded approach. The first thing that Scorcese documents is the planning of the show itself and the miscommunications that took place between what the Stones wanted (a big venue) and what Martin wanted (an intimate one); miscommunications that could have been avoided had the band been available to actually meet face to face with Scorcese, but these and other miscommunications are treated more as running jokes than as genuine problems. Another running joke is that meticulous detail man Martin Scorcese (perhaps the only living director with a fame that rivals the Stones own) wants to know ahead of time what the set list will be or at least what the first song will be so that he can plan his first shot, but the Stones keep it a secret until seconds before the show begins. Its funny even though no one really thinks for a second that with his arsenal of cameras on and off stage there is any chance that Martin Scorcese will not get the exact shots he wants. But even while having some laughs with the band (at the bands and at his own expense), Scorcese is excellent at capturing what an immense task it is working with a band that is not used to surrendering control nor opening up on camera (and Scorcese inserts several old interviews into the concert footage to document Mick's ability to dodge questions with charm and Keith's utter refusal to play the q & a game at all). The irony is that the Stones have been public figures for over four decades now but we really still don't know them very well. Scorcese does a very good job at remedying this situation by peeling back the Stones mystique and allowing us to see the real personalities behind the public performances. As with his Dylan documentary, he does this by going though the immense Stones Interviews archive and coming up with some very rare interview footage (much of it from Asian and European tv programs). We get to hear the notoriously reticent Charlie discussing an alternative career as a painter, and Ron Wood discussing Keith and how he is nothing like his public image, "Keith's a very decent and very moral guy". The interviews are culled from all phases of their career and are very brief and very selectively inserted between the live songs. Most of them are humorous and/or ironic. Notably absent: any mention of Brian Jones or Mick Taylor or Bill Wyman.
No doubt there will be Stones fans who wish that Scorcese had teamed up with the '72 or '76 or '78 Stones, when the band was a bit more like Scorcese's screen outlaws, but better late than never.
For Stones fans the thrill (and it is immediate and lasts the entire show) is having the feeling of being onstage with the Stones. Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Christina Aguilera all do guest stints onstage but we as audience members feel like we are onstage as well and this is the truly brilliant thing about this film. The cameras are so close that we actually get to see the band play (and see who plays which guitar lines) and hear the between song banter between band members. Scorcese allows us to affirm or reaffirm that Mick is without a doubt the leader of this band and his relentless energy and seductive charms seem to wow his bandmates as much as they wow the crowd. Micks age shows in the close-ups but his real instruments, his voice & his body, seem completely immune from the ravages of time. Keith, at times, seems a bit lost (as when Christinsa Aguilera steps onstage) and he misses chords in a few places, but Scorcese's intimate style really serves Richards well. He is an intensely likable guy who loves what he does and still seems to feel adorably awkward when he takes center stage to sing "You Got the Silver" & "Connection." He is in many ways Mick's opposite. The chemistry of the band and especially the chemistry that exists between the Glimmer Twins is the thing that continues to fascinate and continues to evade documentation.
The show is intense and intimate and revealing. The guest appearances are well chosen. And the ending (which I will not reveal) is perfect.
Note on the soundtrack: The 2 cd edition of the Shine a Light soundtrack will contain four bonus tracks ("Paint it Black", "Little T & A", "I'm Free", & "Shine a Light").
Summary of Shine a Light
SHINE A LIGHT - DVD MovieMartin Scorsese leaps into the madness of the Rolling Stones? organization in Shine a Light, barely controlling (in a most entertaining way) a documentary that culminates in the Stones? best concert on film. The movie?s highly entertaining, pre-performance prologue finds a frazzled Scorsese trying to get a clue about the band?s plans for a very special New York City date in 2006, a benefit hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton. While Mick Jagger quibbles over concepts for the stage?s set and peruses lists of possible songs to include in the show, Scorsese tries to figure out how to shoot something for which he has few production details. Everything falls into place eventually, and after an extraordinary meet-and-greet scene in which Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts catch up with the Clintons and sweetly introduce themselves to Hillary?s mom, the Stones launch into a set that leans less heavily than usual on their greatest hits canon. Longtime fans are sure to appreciate the wealth of generally-untapped material from Let It Bleed ("You Got the Silver," "Live With Me"), Exile On Main Street ("All Down the Line," "Loving Cup"), and Some Girls ("Faraway Eyes," "Just My Imagination"). Jack White, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy are on hand for memorable collaborations, but the Stones all alone are truly on fire in the relatively intimate setting of a small theater. Among the highlights is a sexy and even thrilling call-and-response between Jagger and ace backup singer Lisa Fischer on "She Was Hot," Richards? gracious and expansive solo on "Connection," and Jagger?s witty take on "Some Girls" (which manages to skip over the controversial verse about "black girls"). Throughout the show, Scorsese and an army of camera operators cover the action from every conceivable angle, which results not so much in another hyperkinetic concert film but rather in the kind of graceful, flattering portrayal of a great band that the director mastered with The Last Waltz. --Tom Keogh