"Except for the musical numbers the events depicted in this film are fictitious. No representation of actual person and events is intended"....and if you believe this, you are incredibly naive to say the least!
The story behind this film (I probably can't even say the title...it would be against IMDB standards) is interesting. A documentary filmmaker was given access to the Rolling Stones on a concert tour and he recorded a lot of stuff the band later wished he hadn't! Drugs, alcohol and sex were rampant and the final product made the band look rather depraved...and they moved to block the release of the film even though they originally gave permission for the movie to be made. Eventually, this made it to court and the judge offered a strange solution...that the film can be released in a very, very limited way. The director MUST be present when it's shown and it may be shown only once a year! Not surprisingly, bootleg copies somehow got out...and I watched it on YouTube.
The movie actually surprised me because it looked so incredibly rough. Perhaps it wasn't ready to be shown to audiences and never was polished and ready. It had that look to it...with what appears to be hastily made cheap credits, VERY poor sound (which is awful for a film about a rock band...though it might be because it was a bootleg copy) and was in need of a LOT of editing. It also is filmed in color but many of these segments look black & white because of the condition of the print. A few scenes are colorful...most look as if they were shot with a Super 8 camera and have degraded over time.
As far as the shocking material goes that the band objected to folks seeing, there is some full frontal nudity, drug use and alcohol use...which is EXACTLY what you'd assume traveling with this particular band would be like! In this sense, it's like sneaking past security and seeing the band...warts and all.
Now here's the bottom line....the film is amazingly boring! Yes, even with all the excesses, it's just dull and not exactly a great look at the PERFORMANCES of the Stones. For hardcore fans, it's still probably a must-see film...for everyone else, it's a curiosity at best and easy to skip. Frankly, I hoped it would be a lot more interesting.
The story behind this film (I probably can't even say the title...it would be against IMDB standards) is interesting. A documentary filmmaker was given access to the Rolling Stones on a concert tour and he recorded a lot of stuff the band later wished he hadn't! Drugs, alcohol and sex were rampant and the final product made the band look rather depraved...and they moved to block the release of the film even though they originally gave permission for the movie to be made. Eventually, this made it to court and the judge offered a strange solution...that the film can be released in a very, very limited way. The director MUST be present when it's shown and it may be shown only once a year! Not surprisingly, bootleg copies somehow got out...and I watched it on YouTube.
The movie actually surprised me because it looked so incredibly rough. Perhaps it wasn't ready to be shown to audiences and never was polished and ready. It had that look to it...with what appears to be hastily made cheap credits, VERY poor sound (which is awful for a film about a rock band...though it might be because it was a bootleg copy) and was in need of a LOT of editing. It also is filmed in color but many of these segments look black & white because of the condition of the print. A few scenes are colorful...most look as if they were shot with a Super 8 camera and have degraded over time.
As far as the shocking material goes that the band objected to folks seeing, there is some full frontal nudity, drug use and alcohol use...which is EXACTLY what you'd assume traveling with this particular band would be like! In this sense, it's like sneaking past security and seeing the band...warts and all.
Now here's the bottom line....the film is amazingly boring! Yes, even with all the excesses, it's just dull and not exactly a great look at the PERFORMANCES of the Stones. For hardcore fans, it's still probably a must-see film...for everyone else, it's a curiosity at best and easy to skip. Frankly, I hoped it would be a lot more interesting.