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Rolling Stones, Scorsese raise roof at Berlin film fest
2008-02-07
The Rolling Stones premiered their hotly awaited new concert movie by Martin Scorsese on Thursday at the opening of the Berlin Film Festival in a year jam-packed with musical highlights in cinema. Fans lined up early to catch a glimpse of the venerable rockers and the veteran Hollywood director at the kick-off of the 11-day festival spotlighting the likes of Britain's Mike Leigh, Johnnie To of Hong Kong and US filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Twenty-one films will vie for the 58th Berlinale's coveted Golden Bear top prize, to be awarded by a jury led by Greek-French director Costa-Gavras at a gala ceremony February 16. The Scorsese picture, "Shine A Light", which is appearing out of competition, was warmly received at a press screening ahead of its red-carpet premiere Thursday night. The film, which the band co-produced, features outtakes from two Rolling Stones benefit shows at New York's intimate Beacon Theater in 2006, along with cleverly selected archival footage and peeks backstage. Scorsese, who last year scooped up a long-awaited best director Oscar for "The Departed", used 16 cameras to compile more than half a million feet (150,000 metres) of footage of the Rolling Stones. "Obviously it can't beat a live performance, but if we're close enough and detailed enough and if it has a poetry of motion in the way the cameras move, then that gives you something as close as possible to a live performance," he told reporters after the screening. The comprehensive coverage allowed Scorsese to pick out the choice moments that even the most ardent fans have likely never seen, such as Mick Jagger's micromanagement of the stage show and Keith Richards' gladiator-like stare as he strides through an underground tunnel to reach the stage. The band rips through classics like "Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar", handpicks a few New York-inspired favourites such as "Shattered" and "Just My Imagination" and performs a few concert rarities like "As Tears Go By". Jagger is seen as the ultimate diva, exasperating Scorsese by refusing to provide him with the set list that will allow him to prepare the shoot and ignoring the director's requests during a conference call. Scorsese rarely takes the camera off Jagger and uses early-career footage to showcase his preternatural charisma and sex appeal. "Can you imagine when you're 60 doing what you do now?" US talk show host Dick Cavett asks the singer in an interview in the early 1970s. "Oh yeah, easily," replies Jagger -- who today is 64. The still-lithe frontman is a bundle of energy from start to finish on stage, strutting, pouting and even indulging in a bit of pelvis-grinding with pop princess Christina Aguilera. Richards, by contrast, is a hunched, prowling stage presence, with the camera repeatedly zooming in on the deep crevices lining his face. "We didn't even see them. We didn't even know they were there," the lead guitarist said of Scorsese's cameras. "That was important to me. If you're aware you're shooting a movie, things change ... and then you don't really capture the show. What Martin did brilliantly was take that out of the equation." The film achieves a surprising intimacy, helped by the relatively small concert venue and candid cameo shots of the band between numbers, including stoic drummer Charlie Watts panting for air after Jagger races him through "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Watts admitted afterwards he felt self-conscious watching himself on screen. "I hate it," he said. "It's beautifully filmed -- but I hate doing it."
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