Shine a Light (2008)

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (Brazil)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

A career-spanning documentary on the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their "A Bigger Bang" tour.

Plot Keywords:

Rolling Stones | Concert | Band | New York City | Theater

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mick Jagger	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals / guitar / harmonica (also archive footage)
Keith Richards	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar / vocals (also archive footage)
Charlie Watts	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: drums (also archive footage)
Ron Wood	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: guitar (as Ronnie Wood)
Christina Aguilera	...	Herself
Buddy Guy	...	Himself
Jack White	...	Himself (as Jack White III)
Darryl Jones	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: bass guitar
Chuck Leavell	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: keyboards
Bobby Keys	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone
Bernard Fowler	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Lisa Fischer	...	Herself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Blondie Chaplin	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: vocals
Tim Ries	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: saxophone / keyboards
Kent Smith	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones: trumpet

Also Known As:

Shine a Light (USA) (working title)
Shine a Light: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)
Untitled Rolling Stones Documentary (USA) (working title)
Untitled Stones/Scorsese Film (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, drug references and smoking. (edited for re-rating; originally rated R for some language)

Runtime:

USA:122 min | Argentina:122 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital | Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Norway:A | Brazil:Livre | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:o.Al. | Sweden:Btl | Australia:M | Finland:K-3 | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43785) | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:M18 | UK:12A | South Korea:All | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Peru:PT | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Beacon Theatre, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Classics

Trivia:

Legendary executive and co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, died as a result of a head injury he sustained from falling backstage at the opening night of the two day concert series and their subsequent filming. The film closes with a dedication to him. Eerily enough, this is not the only death to result from an incident that took place during the filming of a Rolling Stones concert documentary. In 1969 a fan named Meredith Hunter was stabbed and beaten by members of the Hell's Angels who were hired as security at the now infamous free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway. This tragic event was captured during the filming of another famous Stones concert documentary, Gimme Shelter (1970).

Quotes:

Mick Jagger: Well we've been doing this music thing for two years now and we never thought we would last this long, but I can see us doing it for maybe another year.

Movie Connections:

References The Last Waltz (1978)

Soundtrack:

Loving Cup

Enlightment

Sometimes you might feel that the rock concert movie genre hasn't moved much since "Woodstock". Which doesn't mean Scorsese doesn't manage the tradition in a very proper way.

You certainly have the concert feeling here. But Stones have made it both better and worse. There are ups and downs in this performance, with an absolute peak from the blues man Buddy Guy entering stage.

The clips from old Stones interviews are entertaining, but what's the purpose of having them there? If they are supposed to be included, they should have taken a bigger place, telling something more of this band, which in itself forms essentials of rock history. Anyway, good work by Scorsese, although traditional.