Gimme Shelter (1970)
Directed by: Albert
Maysles & David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin.
Gimme
Shelter is one of the great rock documentaries of all time – and one of the
best “end of the 1960s” films ever made, even if they probably didn’t realize
it at that time. It is a film about the Rolling Stone and their 1969 tour –
climaxing with the now infamous concert at Altamount Speedway – where a member
of the Hell’s Angels – who were hired to provide security for the concert –
kills Meredith Hunter –a young black man, who tried to get up on stage, was
beaten by the Hell’s Angels – and then pulled a gun, at which point a Hell’s
Angel member stabbed him at least six times, killing him. The documentary crew
– who filmed the mounting tension all day at the concert – capture most of this
incident on camera. And the footage is shocking.
That is
probably what the documentary is best remembered for now – nearly 50 years
later. Well that, and the Maysles brothers (and Charlotte Zwerin) inviting the
Stones into the editing suite to see the footage as they assemble it, to get
their reaction – which ends up being shockingly blasé since they basically just
watched one of their fans be killed. Like all the Maysles film, this is direct
cinema – it captures the events as they happen, and doesn’t resort to talking
heads, interviews, archive footage, voiceover, etc. to make their film. Still,
it is a fascinating example of documentary ethics, playing out in real time in
front of the camera – what footage do they use, not just of the killing, but of
the Stones watching the killing. For a movie about the Rolling Stones in 1970,
it’s surprising that there is no sex – or even talk of sex – in the film, nor
any drugs – although you can certainly tell at times various members of the
band are stoned, drunk or some combination thereof. If all of this was at the
insistence of the band – in an attempt to try and protect their image – then
it’s doubly surprising that they have seemed okay with the footage of them not
really reacting to a killing in front of them. They have, after all, kept
another documentary – Cocksucker Blues – pretty much unseen for decades because
of the way they are portrayed in it.
Now, I
should be clear – the film doesn’t really blame the Stones for the death that
happened at Altamount. It doesn’t entirely let them off the hook either though.
They were involved in setting everything up – it was supposed to be a kind of
Woodstock but in California this time. We see famed attonery Melvin Belli
(played by Brian Cox in Fincher’s masterpiece Zodiac) negotiating with people
to get the concert up and running – to secure the Speedway, to find parking,
etc. And when we get to Altamount itself, we see the growing tension and
violence simmering all day. The lead singer of Jefferson Airplane is knocked
out by a Hell’s Angel – the other members of the band call for people to calm
down, to little avail. We see Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead show up –
although when they learn about the Jefferson Airplane incident, they decide not
to play themselves. As the day progesses, and the Hell’s Angels get more and
more drunk – and violent (they come armed with pool cues), and the audience
starts to respond– someone needed to step in before things got too far. And
nobody did.
All of
this is what I remembered about Gimme Shelter from my original viewing –
probably about 20 years ago now. What surprised me watching it again recently
is how much of the documentary takes place well before we get to Altamount. The
concert footage at Madison Square Garden – which kicked off the tour – is
pretty much given more time than the actual music from Altamount. It also
contains the films most memorable music moment – not from the Stones, but from
opening act Tina Turner, practically fellating her microphone. It also has
footage of the Stones recording at Muscle Shoals – Wild Horses can be heard
coming together. As much as Altamount is the star attraction to Gimme Shelter –
it’s far from the only thing here.
And
what’s even more fascinating is how the Maysles and Zwerin cram all this into
just 91-minutes. The film accomplishes a lot in that time period – including
being an unwitting portrait of one of the defining incidents that signaled the
end of the 1960s, and the coming 1970s. It’s easy to see in retrospect that
events like the Manson murders and Altamount really were the death blows to sixties
idealism, and led to the rot and cynicism of the 1970s. They didn’t know that
at the time – making this documentary even greater. For many Salesman or Grey
Gardens is the Maysles masterpiece – either would be fine choices. For me
though, it’s Gimme Shelter.
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