Thursday, March 26, 2015

Gimme Shelter (1970)


On the commentary track for Zodiac, David Fincher describes the infamous overhead shot of the ill-fated Paul Stein's taxi making its way around Presidio Heights thusly:
"The idea here was to have this sense of both detachment, you know. God's POV looking down on something he has no control over and also this way of...you're both locked on to what's happening and powerless to change it."
For me, that sentiment perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Gimme Shelter. You know where this is heading. You know it is headed somewhere bad because you have the advantage of hindsight and can see all of the foreshadowing. But there is also absolutely nothing you can do about it. All you can do is silently sit there and bare witness to the end of an era.

I'm sort of perplexed at the inclusion of a 5.1 soundtrack on the Bluray. Of course the music is excellent. But it is really hard to party when rape and murder is just a shot away. But then again, the show must go on.

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