Ìý The life and death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones is "stylishly captured" in rocking Brit flick Stoned. It marks the directorial bow of veteran producer Stephen Woolley, but it opened to little fanfare and failed to make a dent at the box office. Perhaps it was a lack of star power with the relatively unknown Leo Gregory taking top billing over supporting actors David Morrissey and Paddy Considine.
Keeping Up With The Jones
In a half-hour ‘making of’ featurette, Woolley explains that that the screenplay was initially based on three books, including Who Killed Christopher Robin? The author of that book, Terry Rawlings, offers his assessment of Jones mysterious’ death, but it was the testimony of Nurse Janet Lawson that Woolly describes as his "ace in the hole". She was present when Jones’ body was discovered but vanished soon afterwards and Woolly was so keen to talk to her that he hired a private detective to track her down. In the end her version of the story provided a vital lynchpin for screenwriting partners Neal Purvis and Robert Wade who also appear in this featurette. Later on, Leo Gregory gives us a window into the "very intense" experience and "great responsibility" of playing a real person. Considine gets some talk time too and cinematographer John Mathieson offers technical insight into the various aesthetics used to portray different episodes in Jones’ life.
A reel of deleted scenes amounts to 18 minutes of drug-taking, sex and general debauchery. There’s also a glimpse of Jones as a teenager on the school swim team and having his wicked way with a pretty classmate. In his commentary, Woolley explains that this was all cut simply because Gregory looked "too mature" for the age he was supposed to be playing. Meanwhile an ethereally shot night-time scene where Jones points out the constellations to Anna (Tuva Novotny) was apparently excised because it jarred with "the tone" of the film, which is probably a polite way of saying it was just too darned cheesy.
Getting Hip To The Jive
Woolley gives commentary for the main feature too although he spends rather too much time simply narrating the story and speculating on the nature of the relationships between Jones and those closest to him. Occasionally though, he does throw in some interesting notes on the techniques he adopted to capture that swinging 60s vibe. For example, in depicting the power struggle between Anna and Tom, he says, "We were shooting in a way that’s very reminiscent of 60s movies with very low angles." Later on, he talks about trying to incorporate period features on a very low budget from gaudy earrings to angular coffee pots.
Woolley is certainly articulate on his subject and although there is nothing in the way of behind-the-scenes footage, the 'Making Of' featurette is pretty thorough in conveying his methods and intent. Conspiracy theorists and those fascinated by the 60s counterculture will find this DVD worth turning on and tuning into.
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