The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter (The Criterion Collection)
by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ike Turner, Keith Richards (II), Mick Jagger, Mick Taylor, The Rolling StonesDirector: Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, David Maysles
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-11-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: You Can't Always Get What You Want
Summary: 5 Stars
GIMME SHELTER is one of those rare movies that captures the attention of so many people, yet for so many different reasons. Whether you tend to focus on the music, the violence, the '60s peace/love/dope mystique, or the sheer fascination of seeing all three converge in one place at the same time, this movie is, as so many others have called it, a 'must see.'
There have been so many great observations made here that I won't insult your intelligence with any feeble attempts at waxing philosophical or trying to seem more intellectual than I am, BUT.... there have been quite a few things said that provoke so many different thoughts in me that I felt compelled to chip in my two cents (for which some will no doubt say I am still overcharging!)
Being a rabid Stones fan, I will try to be as honest and objective as I can and not allow my pro-Stones bias to show through. To that end, I have to agree with those who thought the Stones didn't bring their 'A' game to the Altamont show. This is not even considering the fact that their performance was constantly interrupted, if not outright aborted. They just sounded out of sync to me, and were out of tune and disorganized much of the time. In their defense (here comes my Stones bias again...), they very well may have been witness to some of the chaos and anarchy that had gone down prior to their appearance, and were understandably tentative about even taking the stage, much less being inclined to give 100% of their focus on the music. I can't say I blame them for that, although I do disagree with the posters who have said the Stones have never sounded better, or even that they sounded great. To my ear, the only thing 'great' was that it was the Stones! Any other legendary band that sounded that off, however, I would be sitting here panning right now! I'm also a bit surprised that Mick and the gang (especially Mick, though) allowed this film to be released, as it does show him to be woefully impotent when trying to settle the crowd down. He had completely lost whatever small amount of control he had on them. It almost looked like a Saturday Night Live parody of the Stones, and was actually quite humorous, the way Mick would attempt to use his god-like influence on the crowd and expect them to comply just because he asked them to, and then when that didn't work, would mince and prance around the stage in an obviously forced manner in order to make it appear as though all was well, and that none of this was really happening. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I actually saw some humor in that. It was also painful for me to watch.
Another aspect of the movie that shocked me is one that I can only describe as disturbing, and one that still haunts me everytime I think of it. That being the image of an obese, drugged out hippie lumbering through the crowd stark naked with half the crowd accepting it outright (hey, he's 'doing his own thing, man!') and the other half pretending to not notice the 800 lb gorilla in the living room (if you'll pardon THAT analogy, lol!) But that shock to my sensibilities paled considerably when compared with the guy standing on the edge of the stage and obviously on one hellaciously 'bad trip' as he snarls and growls at the band. The camera focused on this weirdo for almost two full minutes and it was IMPOSSIBLE to take my eyes off this human train wreck. I could feel the pit of my stomach start turning the longer I watched him. If these visuals are an advertisement for the merits of bad acid, I'll stick with Budweiser, thank you very much!
Then, there is the ongoing debate on this forum (well, it's become a forum, anyway. I think we're supposed to be reviewing the movie. Okay, I give it 5 stars. It's classic!) Anyway, this debate revolves around whether or not Meredith Hunter is a victim of murder (the hippy version) or justifiable homicide (the Hell's Angels version). Me? After viewing the incident a few times on this DVD, I'm still not sure! Too many things going on to be sure. One thing is certain, the previous reviewer who said Hunter had no gun is full of crap. A stop frame clearly shows he is brandishing a heater, then we see a biker attack him with a knife and chaos reigns. What the hell Hunter was going to do with the gun, I can only speculate, but my gut instinct tells me he didn't bring it as a conversation piece. He was clearly aiming it toward the stage. I tend to agree with those who call it justifiable homicide, but then I have no knowledge of what provoked him, although I doubt that anything short of self-defense would justify his packing heat, and I seriously doubt that was the case.
Thankfully, I am almost done with my ramblings. This final thought comes from the 'WTF were they thinking?' dept. Mick, say it ain't so! The HELLS freaking ANGELS as SECURITY!?!? Isn't that a bit like hiring Michael Jackson as a babysitter? Come on!! I guess the fact that Jerry Garcia was a good friend of the Hells Angels in general and Sonny Barger in particular was good enough for Mick and his mates. What a brain fart that turned out to be! The funniest thing of all though is that when the aforementioned Garcia saw the type of 'security' that Barger and his mates were dishing out, errr... providing, he pieced it all together, said 'peace out' to the peaceniks and got the hell out of there fast. I find that funny, too.
Yep, 5 stars. I thought this was a poignant, thought-provoking and darned entertaining film. Peace out.
Summary of The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter (The Criterion Collection)
Called "the greatest rock film ever made," this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When 300,000 members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hell's Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, direct cinema pioneers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin immortalized on film the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment.To cite Gimme Shelter as the greatest rock documentary ever filmed is to damn it with faint praise. This 1970 release benefits from a horrifying serendipity in the timing of the shoot, which brought filmmakers Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin aboard as the Rolling Stones' tumultuous 1969 American tour neared its end. By following the band to the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco for a fatally mismanaged free concert, the Maysles and Zwerin wound up shooting what's been accurately dubbed rock's equivalent to the Zapruder film. The cameras caught the ominous undercurrents of violence palpable even before the first chords were strummed, and were still rolling when a concertgoer was stabbed to death by the Hell's Angels that served as the festival's pool cue-wielding security force.
By the time Gimme Shelter reached theater screens, Altamont was a fixed symbol for the death of the 1960s' spirit of optimism. The Maysles and Zwerin used that knowledge to shape their film: their chronicle begins in the editing room as they cut footage of the Stones' Madison Square Garden performance of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and from there moves toward Altamont with a kind of dreadful grace. The songs become prophecies and laments for broken faith ("Wild Horses"), misplaced devotion ("Love in Vain"), and social collapse ("Street Fighting Man" and, of course, "Sympathy for the Devil"). Along the way, we glimpse the folly of the machinations behind the festival, the insularity of life on the concert trail, and the superstars' own shell-shocked loss of innocence.
Gimme Shelter looks into an abyss, partly self-created, from which the Rolling Stones would retreat--but unlike its subject, the filmmakers don't blink. --Sam Sutherland
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