University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

'Gimme Shelter': Altamont Violence On Film

By Paul Chaplin
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

—Ed.)

WASHINGTON — The curtain
opens and we see a man dressed in
white with a burro, and a group of
people standing around him. In a
minute we recognize Charlie Watts
and the scene is associated with the
cover of the Stones' "Ya-Yas"
album. Then, quickly, a cut to
blackness and a voice bellows
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling
Stones!!" The lights come up on
the Stones and the four-track stereo
rushes down the sides of the theatre
as Mick Jagger belts out "Jumping
Jack Flash." This opening scene of
"Gimme Shelter," a documentary
about the Stones, is enough to
make anyone sit up and take
notice.

The film, directed by Albert and
David Maysles and Charlotte
Zwerin, is a sometimes interesting
blend of documentary footage on
the Madison Square Garden
concert, some aspects of the tour,
and the events of the Altamont
Rock Festival. We see five live
performances by the Stones, plus
one number each by the Airplane,
Ike and Tina Turner and the Flying
Burritto Brothers. There are
thirteen live songs in all, plus two
new songs, "Wild Horses" and
"Brown Sugar," both recorded at
Atlantic Records' Muscle Shoals
studio. The sound quality is
amazingly pure, and I would say
considerably better than that in
"Woodstock."

Press Conference

After the screening, co-director
David Maysles answered questions
from the press, and the first
questioner wondered if there would
have been a film without the

murder and violence of Altamont.
Maysles answered it never entered
the directors' minds, saying they
"wouldn't have this movie." I
would disagree there would be parts
of a movie. Without the murder,
the film is boring in a paradoxical
sort of way. The Stones performing
can not be considered
dull-superstar Jagger strutting
around stage like a rooster, his
vocal chords tightening as he leans
out towards the audience.
Compared to the performances, the
other scenes in the film are tired
looking. There is little exciting
about seeing the Stones leave a
hotel with "You Gotta Move" on
the soundtrack. I would have
preferred to have heard the Stones
say something.

Clever Technique

To appease people who want the
Stones to appear as humans, the
directors struck upon the clever
device of showing the final cut of
the film to the Stones while filming
their reactions. These scenes are
few which is good because they
don't contribute much to the film.
This is Jagger's fault; he is
constantly performing for his
audience-either the live one or the
one-eyed lens one. Charlie Watts'
comments in the beginning of the
film seem more heartfelt than what
little Jagger does say.

This screening technique also
includes the infamous freeze shots
of the murder of Meredith Hunter.
Actually, I was unimpressed with it
for two reasons. In the first place, a
screen or television murder is better
staged than an actual murder. What
I saw reminded me of Lee Harvey
Oswald's murder on television,
something very confusing, visually
uninteresting and totally confusing.
Quite obviously, the media often
makes reality seem dull.

My second objection is that the
event, by being used in the film,
loses much of its shock. It's
horrible that it's a teaser for the
film ("When are we goin' to see
it?"). Topping this off, David
Maysles freezes frames with slow
motion and provides
commentary — "You can see the gun
here against her white dress."
Somehow the whole thing struck
me as pointless, being treated like a
great catch during a football game,
but apparently of less importance.

Altamont Festival

The best feeling of what
Altamont was like is conveyed in a
shot when Jagger is singing and the
stage is crowded with onlookers. As
Jagger sings and dances out of the
frame, we see a bearded man, quite
obviously tripping, pulling his hair
while yelling at Jagger at the top of
his lungs. The expression on his
face is terrifying, but Jagger never
sees it, for he is too busy mocking
the audience, showering them with
rose petals, and giving them the
performance they want. The
juxtaposition of the two men is, I
feel, the most successful and
frightening shot in the entire film,
conveying the essence of Jagger and
the ominous atmosphere
surrounding Altamont.

Press Release

After the film, I was rummaging
through the press releases when I
discovered several references to
what the Maysles / Zwerin team call
"direct cinema." Was this a fancy
term for documentary? I asked Miss
Zwerin how she'd distinguish
"Salesman" and "Gimme Shelter"
from a documentary by Fred
Wiseman. "Oh, Fred's more of a
photo-journalist." That told me
nothing, so I asked what she meant
by "Direct cinema." I couldn't hear
all of her answer, but it was
something about showing real
events in real life. That still wasn't
much help, so I returned to the
press releases.

It was with "Salesman" that
Maysles/Zwerin made a
contribution developing the art of
film with their concepts of
filmmaking by (1) filming ordinary
people and creating a dramatic,
nonfiction feature film entirely out
of raw material of their lives. (2)
portraying life as it is lived rather
than re-invented by the traditional
cinema, and (3) broadening the
limits of what constitutes a
dramatic feature film.

"Gimme Shelter" exemplifies a
further development in the art of
film through "direct cinema."

Direct Cinema

I'm still at a loss. The Stones are
hardly ordinary people, and we see

only their stage presence, hardly
raw material of their daily lives. No
film can truly portray life as it is
lived in actuality. Each image in a
film is selected by the director or
editors and their arrangement of
scenes influences our
interpretation. For example, the
method of filming Tina Turner's
"I've Been Lovin' You Too Long"
has extremely sexual connotations,
which would not be seen if filmed
with a different camera position. In
fact, another song might very well
be less suggestive. How can there be
direct cinema presenting real life if
what is shown is filtered through
the eyes of a director? If the events
are re-ordered for dramatic effect?
If slow motion and overlaps are
used for effect? It seems impossible
to me, unless you set your camera
up and shoot the Empire State
Building continuously for a day.

Finally, "Gimme Shelter"
doesn't really know what it's about.
The film opens with the Stones, but
ends with the crowds leaving
Altamont. Is the film about the
Stones or Altamont, or is it a
filmed concert with some
additional footage of the tour? It's
obvious to me that Maysles/Zwerin
were extremely lucky that the
Angels were at Altamont. Without
the murder. "Gimme Shelter"
would be a very unimaginative
filmed performance, saved only by
the virtuosity of Mick Jagger and
the Rolling Stones.