MUBI

“The documentary started out as a chronicle of The Rolling Stones on a U.S. tour, and turned out to be a first-person view of the anti-Woodstock, the final confirmation that the sixties were over, and that the hippie culture of peace & love spawned by baby boomers was indeed a failure. Watching Michael Wadleigh’s documentary Woodstock today is probably seen with the same mindframe as Charleton Heston’s character in The Omega Man, where he views the film in an empty theater in a post-apocalyptic city. Some argue that Gimme Shelter captured the death of the sixties, but in my opinion, the sixties had died a few months before the Stones played their fateful free concert at the Altamont Speedway. The Manson Family had already murdered Sharon Tate, showing the world the ugly underbelly of hippie culture. Gimme Shelter simply showed us that there was no hope for the flower children, and that their era was indeed over.”

Read the rest over at my blog

Would the Hell’s Angels organization be my first pick to provide security and maintain order. Not so much, but as we all know hindsight is 20/20. This movie is a real gem and an easy recommendation for anyone who has an appreciation of film and/or history. What starts as a routine concert film quickly turns into a nightmarish mushrooming cloud of violence, chaos and despair. And the last 30 minutes, wow, just wow, like a punch to the stomach – this film will certainly leave a lasting impression.

It’s tough to think of this film in terms of entertainment value, because in so doing that would be missing the point. Gimme Shelter is dark, disturbing, off-putting and real. The raw emotion of the Altamont incident is captured brilliantly by the Maysles brothers, showing the facts as they unfolded uninterrupted and unabridged. As the Stones play their set the cameras begin to show you the confusion in the crowd. It’s a testament to the caliber of the filmmakers to have gotten the footage that they did as the concert was going on. The one scene that always sticks with me is one in which the camera stays on one particular hippie with a denim jacket on. The camera must stay on him for at least a full minute, and you can see this clearly deranged elation and horror in his face as he awkwardly sways to the music. That image has haunted me since I saw it the first time and perfectly captures the moment.

This documentary was designed to scare you straight away from hippies. Suddenly, all the excess of the sixties just came crashing down on this one concert.

Also, great Tina Turner, Flying Burrito Bros. and of course, Rolling Stones performances all around. I hate hippies, but they sure like good music.

I have to admit though, that scene where the guy from Jefferson Airplane gets punched-out, it’s worthy of several laughs.

Let’s say somebody knows vaguely what happened at this concert. When the film begins the viewer forgets it’s about something terrible for a while, even as the filmmakers tell the viewer what’s going to happen, because this somebody’s lost in the music, and in the images of peace and love and freedom, and this somebody, this viewer, wishes it was right here, right now. It’s overwhelming the amount of people that crowd the stage.

It harkens the epic memory of Woodstock and all the nostalgic viewer can do is get ready for a good time. And then the concert gets going and the Hell’s Angels start circling and it hits Mick (who’s watching on a Vitriola) at the same time this somebody is watching Mick get his by this sudden revelation: Look at how crazed and irresponsible that generation became.

It’s a warning call to any culture that allows itself to get out of hand. Then again when the wave’s rolling how do you stop it?