Hacker Cinema
Gimme Shelter
1970 · Film · documentary · 92 min
Directed by Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, David Maysles
A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.
3 positive1 neutralfrom 4 commenters
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4 comments on Hacker News
Watched the Gimme Shelter documentary last night and it made me wonder if, when Thompson wrote that piece, he wasn't merely being allegorical. Perhaps he was also referencing the Altamonte Speedway which is North West of Vegas as the crow flies and where in a sense the 'sixties' came to a very definite end.
Gimme Shelter (the film) has some good footage from these sessions.
> That seems a wee bit excessive to me.
It was a very different, more flamboyant and volatile, era.
Recently watched "Gimme Shelter" a documentary about the free concert at Altamont in 1970 that ended with someone in the Hells Angels (which had been hired for security!) stabbing a concert-goer to death. This film, according to some, documents "the end of the 60's" and marked the beginning of a much meaner era. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/12/03/altamont-at-50-the-disastrous-concert-that-brought-the-60s-to-a-crashing-halt/).
"Gimme Shelter" (the film) captures the band personalities in a really preceptive way. Watts is pensive and brooding, Jagger is mercurial and far-removed from Earthy reality.
Lots of good ones already mentioned, but here's a few nobody's brought up yet:
Orson Welles' F for Fake: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072962/
Robert X. Cringely's Triumph of the Nerds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Nerds
The Maysles Brothers' Gimme Shelter: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065780/
Randy Olson's Flock of Dodos: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800334/
Les Blank's Burden of Dreams: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083702/
Steve James' Hoop Dreams: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110057/
Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's The War Room: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108515/