Film Forum

(2008) The Rolling Stones’ concert from 11/06 at Manhattan’s Beacon Theater, with look-backs via archival footage to their full career; plus Scorsese’s storyboarding the entire film in advance. 35mm. Approx. 122 min.

Reviews

“The most intimate documentary ever made about a live rock 'n' roll concert.”
– Roger Ebert

“In Martin Scorsese’s rip-roaring concert documentary Shine a Light, there is ample evidence that rock ’n’ roll may hold the secret of eternal vitality, if not eternal beauty.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“This is a concert film with frills that places you on the stage with the band and, with a finely trained eye, observes the musicians’ interactions with one another and with the audience. The visual rhythms and unobtrusive editing reflect the contradictory status of the Stones as a majestic rock institution and a gang of down-and-dirty bad boys thumbing their noses at propriety while scooping up all the girls.”
– Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“‘Sympathy for the Devil’ became this score for our lives. It was everywhere at that time, it was being played on the radio. When ‘Satisfaction’ starts, the authority of the guitar riff that begins it is something that became anthemic."
– Scorsese on The Rolling Stones