The Movie Blog

Shine A Light To Open At The Berlin Film Festival

By Doug - January 16, 2008 - 15:47 America/Montreal

I saw the trailer for this film last week and was blown away and it looks like Berlin is going to be the city that launches this masterpiece. We get the following news announcement thanks to our friends at Monsters And Critics:

Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light will open the Berlin film festival on February 7, organizers confirmed on Wednesday. The director and members of the band will be in attendance for the screening, which also marks the world premier of the film.

‘Martin Scorsese has captured the pure essence of an iconic band on the big screen,’ said festival director Dieter Kosslick. The bulk of Shine a Light was shot in two concerts at the Beacon Theatre, New York in October and November 2006. Using 16 cameras, more than half a million feet of concert footage were shot. Shine A Light also features rarely-seen archival footage and current behind the scenes footage and interviews.

This rockumentary is probably one of my most anticipated films of the year. The Rolling Stones are rock gods and no one is better to capture them on celluloid than Scorsese. Martin is an outspoken fan of the band and we are blessed to have him at the helm of this picture. I would hazard a guess that this movie is going to become an instant classic to fans of both documentary film and rock and roll.

I saw the Stones a few year back in Toronto and it was awesome. The only thing I didn’t like was the amount of “extras” they brought with them. They had like 15 backing musicians onstage with them and It cluttered up the mix for me. From what I see in this trailer – it looks like it is just the stripped down band in all its essential glory. This suits me just fine.

The release date for Shine A Light is April, 4 2008 and for those of you that have not yet seen the trailer – please view below!