Shine a Light and Young @ Heart

Yesterday I indulged myself with two music documentaries-I didn't plan it that way, thats just how the times worked out, so I figured I would respond to them together instead of in separate posts. The two docs are the Sundance favorite "Young @ Heart,' and the Martin Scorsese directed Rolling Stones concert film "Shine a Light."

I suppose both films did not meet the expectations that I had set out for them originally-"Shine a Light" underwhelmed me while "Young @ Heart" was far better than I had conceived it. I'll start with the Scorsese film, which begins with a rather enjoyable ten minutes of preparation for the Stones concert at the Beacon Theatre in NY in Fall 2006. Now I know that Scorsese is a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, and they certainly have an impact in his movies. Almost all of his films-at least the ones that are not period films-seem to have a Stones song here and there, and I believe that he's used "Gimmie Shelter" three times-and it appears in "The Departed" twice. There is some comedy by Scorsese at the start of this documentary, and part of me feels like it was filmed after the fact. Scorsese scrambles about trying to figure out where to put the cameras around the theatre, and trying to figure out which songs the Stones were going to play. One of my favorite parts here was when Scorsese indicated a whole stack of papers with notes for nearly every song that they could possibly play, divided into sections based on the odds of them playing it. It was a rather interesting segment in seeing the process of the film maker.

And then the concert starts-bookended with a rather awful special effects shots, but more on that later. And that is just about the rest of the film, intersected every two or three songs with some interview footage from the early days of the band. Oddly enough, these brief interviews were some of the best parts of the film, and I would have enjoyed it more had Scorsese intercutted more interviews among the songs instead of having it straight concert film. Or even some more about why the Stones mean so much to Scorsese-for someone who uses them as often as him, they clearly influence him greatly. But why? I would have liked for "Shine a Light" to be a bit more personal for the film maker, and while it is quite rocking and enjoyable as it is, this could have been even better. And as a Stones fan myself, I was not a hue fan of the song selection, and especially segments in the middle it somewhat got mildly extended, at least until they jam the last five songs of the setlist with some of the best Stones songs ever made. There is also three special guest performers-Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Christina Aguilera.

The final two minutes almost completely ruins the experience as Scorsese decides to be a tad bit cuter than he should be. He ends the film with a special effects shot out of the Beacon, panning across the skies of Manhattan, before ending with a shot of the city underneath a moon. The moon than turns into the Rolling Stones symbol (the tongue sticking out) before fading out. The shot annoyed me-not just because of the bad special effects that look unrealistic completely-but also because it was not needed. Scorsese has time for these bad FX shots, but he cannot throw in a few more personal thoughts about the band, which is what this needed.

"Shine a Light" is playing in IMAX theatres, and due to scheduling conflicts I was only able to see it in a conventional theatre-which was fine, but I feel like this would have been mammoth on the giant screen-with every single wrinkle, pore, and spitwad from Mick Jagger probably being visible. It would have probably been like being at the front row of a Stones concert, something rare for a lot of people I am sure. I did get enjoyment out of "Shine a Light," but it's only for the die hard Stones fan really-it does not have enough background and personal feeling injected into it for it to be an introduction to the band, or even just for someone who does not have a strong love for the band. There was quite an entertaining man in front of me who was rocking along with the music for the entire time, while his wife sat next to him not moving. I wondered what her facial expression was.

And just for those interested, here is the setlist for "Shine a Light":

Jumpin' Jack Flash

Shattered

She Was Hot

All Down the Line

Loving Cup-with Jack While

As Tears Go By

Some Girls

Just My Imagination

Far Away Eyes

Champagne and Reefer-with Buddy Guy

Tumbling Dice

You Got the Silver

Connection

Sympathy for the Devil

Live with Me-with Christina Aguilera

Start Me Up

Brown Sugar

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

But where is "Gimmie Shelter?" "You Can't Always Get What You Want?" "19th Nervous Breakdown?" "Street Fighting Man?" "Ruby Tuesday?" It just felt so. . incomplete.

And then on the other side is "Young @ Heart," which I have already debated with someone who found the film completely patronizing-to the point where she opted to walk out and watch a Yankee game. I found this documentary to be completely sweet and uplifting, and there wasn't a patronizing bone in its body. Telling a story of the Young At Heart chorus group in Massachusetts where the members average at about eighty, and their specialties are classic rock and roll songs-songs by Sonic Youth, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, and The Zombies are thrown in there briefly too. We follow seven weeks in the lives of these chorus members as they prepare to do a big show. 

I must say I was quite charmed by all the members here-especially Eileen Hall, the oddest member of the chorus at ninety two at the time of this filming. The film starts with her delivering a rather enjoyable version of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" complete with her proper British accent. After the credits rolled there is a little window saying that she died a few months ago, and I actually led out an audible "no!" I began to care for these people, and over the course of the seven weeks they lose two of their members-one recent and the other coming out of a retirement to sing one last song. Instead another member who came out of retirement does a solo version of Coldplay's "Fix You" during the big show, and I will admit I had some tears coming out of my eyes during it-as did several members in the audience of the big show itself. 

Some of the film becomes painful to watch-especially during the rehearsal scenes-all of them trying to memorize all seventy-one "can's" in "Yes I Can" or trying to get the words to "I Feel Good," but the finished product ends up being quite entertaining. Yes there is some reluctance of them to actually sing the rock and roll songs, but none of the members ever seem to complain about it. They simply enjoy singing and they enjoy singing with each other. The version of Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia" starts off as a mess during rehearsals, and ends up being something really unique and enjoyable.

So there we have it-two completely different yet oddly similar music docs-but I was oddly fascinated with "Yougn @ Heart" more than "Shine a Light"-perhaps its because I expected something more by Scorsese-a die hard Stones fan for years not taking full advantage of the potential that it had. It is something I can recommend to a die hard Stones fan, but everyone else might find themselves expecting something different. But "Young @ Heart" should take folks by surprise-a very uplifting and sweet and highly entertaining music doc, from a group of people that you would least expect.

So, final grades-

"Shine a Light"-**1/2 of ****

"Young @ Heart"-***1/2 of ****