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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Stoned
Verdict: Scandalised, shaken and stoned
Feature Film – 2005 – 105 mins
London – November 05
Stephen Woolley’s retelling of the end of wayward Rolling Stone Brian Jones is an illuminating and wild ride (writes Tracy Keeling). This superb account of the rapid rise and fall of the the original Stoner unveils his soul and story. It follows his erratic and paranoid behaviour - which led to his eventual booting from the band - his turbulent love affair with Anita Pallenberg, and the fatal friendship which brought about his cataclysmic descent.
Stoned features a strong cast, led by Leo Gregory as a somewhat awkward, effeminate and yet ferocious Jones, whose confidence and curiosity overwhelms his spirit. The performances are played with a uniform degree of talent suggesting a unity to the piece - as opposed to a vehicle for individual players. Not surprising, however, with Wolley at the helm. As the humble driving force behind the film, Woolley's success story is a breath of filmic fresh air. His generous and frank approach in the post-movie discussion, wooed the audience – who left the auditorium thanking heavens above that the dude is out there.
Woolley was sprouted and moulded with the Sixties and has a self-confessed preoccupation with the period. He’s the man behind Backbeat (1994) – aha! a pattern emerges. Stoned is suitably saturated with Sixties soul and sounds. It’s filmed in a creative concoction of formats, one being a grainy hark-back to the low-tech of the era – makes you want to blaze up a fat one and trash a hotel room. The soundscape however is not - as perhaps expected - a Rolling Stones Best Of. It’s inspired from Jones’s musical taste – from Moroccan mixes to current retro-rock sounds. Exquisite cinematography trails the hazy highlights of Jones’s major flirtation with drugs - a staple to rock stars, but not one that his tummy tempered well.
The story unfolds the shocking set of events that led to Jones’ premature death at 27. So he joins the league of legends - Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain - who broke on through to the other side at the same age. His story differs in that he didn’t self-destruct; though some would argue, after seeing Stoned, that he chose the water he was in - but not whether to sink or swim.
