Stoned

A film in the best English film tradition. A film with a story told well and in detail, with convincing and authentic acting and plenty of feeling for location and costumes. An evocation of the 1960s in which everything seems to fit – even obsessively – right down to the smallest details. Stephen Woolley investigated the sources of his story equally precisely and fanatically. It is the story of the most mythical of all drug deaths from rock history: Stoned is about the life and death of founding member of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. A stunning reconstruction of a short and unbridled life portrayed realistically, but not without humour – this is also part of this great British film tradition – and with great craftsmanship. Drugs were certainly fundamental in the demise of Jones, but the freakish behaviour that fame brings out in unstable people also undoubtedly played a role. Stoned is an ambitious film, even if those ambitions were not entirely in the field of cinematography. Woolley has investigated the Jones case so thoroughly that he seems to want to make a legal point too. His ultimate aim is that the case should be reopened. Because in this respect, the film is most convincing: that famous corpse in the swimming pool was not floating there as a result of a drugs party that got out of hand. (GjZ)

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