Stoned
You might think the life and lifestyle of rock star Brian Jones consisted of a little more than what we get in Stephen Woolley’s 2005 film entitled ‘Stoned’. But then again, it isn’t about his life as much as it is about his death; it isn’t really about Brian Jones as much as it is about a certain Frank Thorogood, and the things he did during a famous but fateful period of time. I read that there is no definitive answer regarding Jone’s death, a deathbed confession that supposedly never was; a tragic accident that was apparently very deliberate. The film is, in the end, a documenting of one side of the story a belief a certain director might have or a take on previously transpired events. It is a documentation that is brimming with style and emphasis on the visual as it flies through this person’s life up to the point he’ll meet the man that supposedly murdered him, before slowing down and making a meek study.The man in question is Brian Jones (Gregory), a member of a rock band named The Rolling Stones from which I’m pretty sure the title of the film comes; although he did rather like his drug use. The film begins with Jones’ euphoric rise to power with archive footage shoved in our faces as fast edits, bright colours and general build up hogs the screen. This is before Paddy Considine’s Frank Thorogood arrives, a builder who leads a very simple life with unspectacular but somewhat desired results. He is unimpressed by Jones at first, even under-rawed by his presence in comparison to flocks of screaming fans shown mere minutes ago. And so the slight study is established with an underwhelmed Thorogood initially meeting super-star Jones before time develops mindsets and attitudes eventually change.The study isn’t so much obsession with a celebrity, as explored in The King of Comedy, as much as it is eventual jealousy; a taste of the forbidden fruit and then a constant temptation to revert back to it. But it is Jones whose given the majority of the runtime, through a gallery of necessary flashbacks unfolded mostly through a visual filter of bright colours; bizarre camera angles shot on an array of different lens’; this down to the influence the ecstasy has on said people. We get all the necessary stuff: the scenes at the concerts; progression with the rest of the band members and how that spirals out of control; the progression of his relationship with girlfriends and the meeting of a certain Anna Wohlin (Novotny) backstage at Munich, although I’m not sure how she got through all that crowd control. She does, incidentally, pretty much exist to remove her clothes every now and again as well as act as the object of Thorogood’s gaze.Jones seems to have garnered all of what he had by accident. He’s portrayed as immature and not as a particularly clever individual at the best of times, but he inherits all this fame and attention which comes with the house, the cars and the women following shows across Europe. But rather than portray Jones in a negative light and force us into disliking him, I really just felt sorry for him; that this individual, who clearly loves what he does for a living, just doesn’t know how to use all this money and fame in a sensible manner with moderation seemingly ever-elusive. A lot of whatever kick you’re going to get out of the study the film makes, lies within Thorogood’s gaze. He, along with a few other builders, is hired to extend Jones’ huge manor house based out in the country as Jones himself faces exile from the band that made him famous.As a character, Frank is central to the film. He represents not only the audience, as a figure that is given permission to be allowed into this little world of allure and fame, but additionally as a representation of how easy it to fall into the ‘trap’ of this lifestyle; how someone quite feasibly on Brian Jones’ ‘level’ of sensibility and intellect can be lured into a life of women, hallucinogenic drugs and rock music. It also acts as a demonstration on Jones’ influence and how his way of life is able to influence. Frank is allowed glimpses of Anna when he does push-ups in front of her as well as Jones; he gets a flavour for the laid back lifestyle as Jones sits beside an empty pool and listens to rock music, Frank looking over him in eerie fashion given how it all ends; and the casual drug use soon follows before Frank begins to loose the trust and connection with his fellow builders, much like Jones began to loose the respect and acknowledgement of his own group of co-workers, that being his band: The Rolling Stones.It’s all quite interesting, but progressive and feels somewhat obligatory. David Morrissey turns up now and again as Tom Keylock, Jones’ manager and chews the scenery as he spouts dialogue delivered in what sounds uncannily like a Michael Caine impression; but the supporting cast is disappointing on the whole. The other ‘Stones’ members are there purely for petty visualisation; the girls exist to get naked and daft cameos from people like David Walliams as an accountant just distract when it shouldn’t. Regardless, the film is worth seeing for its documentation of Jones’ last days and its look at the lifestyle it studies.
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