By Christian Wiessner
NEW YORK (Reuters) -
Director Martin Scorsese won't say the
Rolling Stones are like the underworld characters in many of
his movies, but he admits the band's music evokes memories of
the rough, mob-tinged street life he grew up around.
The Academy Award winner and the legendary band founded in
London in 1962 have combined on "Shine A Light," a concert
documentary shot at New York's intimate Beacon Theatre in
October 2006.
Scorsese and band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron
Wood and Charlie Watts held a press conference on Sunday ahead
of the film's U.S. release on April 4.
"I don't know if I can make any direct associations,"
Scorsese said with a laugh when asked what similarities he sees
between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and the brutal
criminals he has depicted in films such as "Goodfellas,"
"Casino" and "The Departed."
But the native New Yorker says their music has always
struck powerful chords with him, so much that he used the
group's violence-laced song "Gimme Shelter" in three of his
previous films.
"The music has been very important to me over the years. It
dealt with aspects of the life that I was growing up around,
that I was associated with or saw or was experiencing and
trying to make sense of," Scorsese said.
"It was tougher, it had an edge. Beautiful, honest and
brutal at times. And it's always stayed with me and become a
well of inspiration to this day," he added.
The film offers 17 songs mainly comprised of concert
warhorses like "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Start Me Up" and "Brown
Sugar," and features guest appearances by blues legend Buddy
Guy, White Stripes guitarist Jack White and singer Christina
Aguilera.
The film's opening minutes show band front-man Jagger and
Scorsese in a transatlantic teleconference tug-of-war over
stage dimensions, camera placement and the song list.
Archival footage of the band and limited contemporary
interviews also are included, but the film mainly is a straight
depiction of the concert.
Guitarist Richards said he was happy about the scaled-down
show, especially because of his love of the Beacon Theatre.
"The Beacon Theatre is special for some reason ... The room
sort of wraps its arms around you, and every night it gets
warmer," Richards said. "And this band, you know, didn't start
off in stadiums."
While filmed in a smaller venue, Jagger said the movie will
have a larger-than-life look when it is shown in the
huge-screen IMAX format. The film also will be released in
theaters with regular screens.
"The funny thing is that Marty decided he wanted to make
this small intimate movie and I said, 'Well the laugh is that,
Marty, in the end, it's going to be blown up to this huge IMAX
thing ...' But it looks good in IMAX," Jagger said.
The band was long on praise for Scorsese, who after five
previous Best Director nominations finally won an Oscar for
2006's "The Departed."
"He's a fantastic director and ... very painstaking on the
editing to produce the movie that you see," Jagger said.
(Editing by Vicki Allen)
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