University of Virginia Library

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.