GIMME SHELTER
(1970 Albert & David Maysles)
FORMAT: 35mm film
RUNTIME: 91 minutes
WHEN: Friday November 6th and Saturday November 7th @ 7pm and 9:30pm
Sunday November 8th @ 3pm
WHERE: 5th Ave Cinema, 510 SW Hall St. @ PSU
ADMISSION: FREE for PSU Students, Faculty and Staff with ID; $2 for
Other Students, Seniors and Children; $3 General Admission
SYNOPSIS
This musical documentary concerns the Rolling Stones and their tragic free concert at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco in early December 1969. The event was all but destroyed by violence that marked the end of the peace and love euphoria of the 1960s. The night began smoothly, with the supercharged Flying Burrito Brothers opening up for the Rolling Stones and performing the truck-driving classic "Six Days on the Road" and Tina Turner giving a sensually charged performance. But on this particular evening, the Stones made the fateful (and disastrous) decision to hire the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang as bodyguards and bouncers. It was a foolhardy, careless choice that turned the night into an unmitigated disaster; halfway through the Stones act, the Angels killed one black spectator, and injured several others who were present (including Jefferson Airplanes lead singer Marty Balin). In the film, we watch Mick Jagger -- ere an ebullient, charismatic performer of bisexual charm -- reduced to standing on stage like a frightened child with his finger in his mouth in wake of the violence. Unsurprisingly, the Grateful Dead refused to perform after the violence erupted; the picture ends on a despairing note, with the Stones repeatedly watching a film of the murder. Celebrated documentarians Albert and David Maysles directed and Haskell Wexler shot the film, with heightened instinct and control; as a result, this film is considered one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made. Stones songs performed include "Brown Sugar," "Under My Thumb," and "Sympathy for the Devil." ~ Dan Pavlides
