Stones 'Light' up the big screen

"It's good to see you. It's good to see anybody," says Keith Richards at one point in the Martin Scorsese-directed concert documentary Shine a Light. Filmed over a two-night stand at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in 2006, this finely crafted concert film provides the audience with not only the finest sound quality but also the best seat in the house to see rock's longest running act. Like wizened forces of nature, the four main band members, singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Ronnie Wood and Richards, and drummer Charlie Watts, dominate the stage with an energy and joy for their music unsuitable for men their age. It seems they might have found the Fountain of Youth on a six-string guitar.

And yet, stamped with the Scorsese imprimatur, one expects more than a concert film. Scorsese's most notable previous forays into the music documentary genre yielded The Last Waltz and No Direction Home, both of which explored the human element of characters more often lost in the distractions of celebrity posturing.

Scorsese has used Rolling Stones music in his films from Mean Streets to The Departed. Certainly, this film communicates an excitement for the vitality and raw energy of rock and roll. Yet, there is none of the exploration of character that gave his other music documentaries such appeal, though it starts off in that way. The film starts with the frantic preparations for the shows. Apparently the most dramatic action before the concert itself was a tug-of-war between Scorsese and the Stones for a finalized version of the set list. It is understandable that any director would want a definite list of songs before the performance, but that sense of necessity simply is not communicated to the audience.

One of the earliest shots in the film has Jagger asking Marty to control the activity of the cameras so that they do not become bothersome for the band or the audience. Apparently this request was ignored, as the stage and area around it seemed to be literally swarming with cameras. And great moments of passionate rock are captured as a result, such as Richards's tendency to sink closer and closer to the ground as he pours himself through his guitar in scattered bursts, or Jagger's trademark strut.

At a couple of points, the footage from the concert is intercut with news footage from early in the Stones' careers, several of which involved members of the band saying either that they were surprised they had survived the years of fame they had already enjoyed, or expressing a certainty that they would keep playing their music into the indefinite future.

What these cuts fail to communicate is anything other than that the members of the Rolling Stones are perhaps the oldest and most battle-worn of all living rock stars of their generation. Scorsese relied on style over substance in this film, producing something less than what audiences might expect. Certainly, this film is the cheapest way to see the Stones these days, but it is also much less satisfying than a concert. The best moments in the film are those when a band member, Richards in particular, is caught in the act of some natural, unaffected display of camaraderie, such as leaning on Woods's shoulder while he takes a guitar solo. With so many cameras, it would be impossible not to catch something meaningful. B+