R.I.P. Albert Maysles, documentary pioneer
Gimme Shelter is one of the only movies that has ever truly frightened me, and I mean that as the highest of compliments. Albert and David Maysles’ 1970 Rolling Stones documentary is thrilling and impossible to replicate: a part-genius, part-serendipitous occurrence of the right filmmakers being in the right place at the right time — or perhaps the worst time. The film followed the Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour, culminating in the stabbing of 18 year old Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Free Festival. “Altamont” is now shorthand for collapse; it’s entirely likely that moment wouldn’t have been as seared in history without Albert Maysles’ camera, his jittery telephoto lens searching the chaos of the scene from the back of an…
Source:: The Verge
