It was to one man’s credit that, after more than 40 years, the Rolling Stones are still censored on national television and still rein as one of the top touring bands in the world.  That man is Brian Jones, who founded the band in 1962, only to be kicked out five years later after becoming the poster boy for the ‘60s experimentation with hard drugs and free love.  He passed on in 1969 at the age of 27, found dead at the bottom of his pool on the rural estate, Cotchford Farm, once owned by Winnie the Pooh author, A.A. Milne.  Even though toxicology reports showed only traces of drugs and alcohol in his system, the coroner deemed his death that of misadventure.  Murder rumors were rampant with several conspiracy theories including those implicating Jones’ band mates, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman.  Several books have been written about Jones and his death, even one by one of those present at the house at the time and featured in the film, Anna Wohlin (Tuva Novotny).  All the theories forge into one in the new indie film made of Jones’ life, called Stoned.

Stephen Woolley, producer on films such as The Crying Game and Interview With A Vampire, took ten years to get the film produced, and he was so engrained in the subject that he decided to also direct the film himself.  He, along with writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Billy Elliot, The Italian Job, Die Another Day), smartly kept the film as raw as Jones’ life and music and creates a ‘60s morality play with Jones (Leo Gregory) as a sort of Othellian fallen king with an Iago in the form of a builder, Frank Thorogood (Paddy Consdine), who is given a job more as watchdog than craftsman and who becomes Jones’ pet but one treated more like a mongrel than companion.  Thorogood slowly becomes intoxicated and addicted to Jones’ lifestyle, even trying drugs, but when he is finally sacked because he’s really not that good a builder, he turns on his lord to knock him off his throne.

They say that there is a fine line between genius and madman, and unfortunately Brian Jones couldn’t keep the madman in check.  At the end of the film, the character, either in a post mortem state or as flashback, reveals that what he didn’t like about being happy was that it was boring. This sums up his life — he was never one to be bored and would do almost anything to prevent it. Woolley smartly tells a story of this genius/madman and not the Rolling Stones; even the music featured is not Stones songs but those reflective of Jones’ taste, his life, or the era. Woolley also uses Jones as an allegory to the rise and fall of the flower power movement.  Jones was not only a remarkably talented musician but also a visionary who set fashion trends and pushed rock music into a new era.  The film nicely captures the frenzied, drug- and sex-filled era by its visual style, music choices, and chaotic editing, cutting between the last three weeks of Jones’ life and the rest of his tumultuous past.  

Musically, Jones’ was a fan of American soulful blues, especially that of the legendary Robert Johnson, who also died young.  He wanted the Rolling Stones to take rock and roll to a new bluesy direction, and he succeeded.  But when his hedonistic lifestyle took over, with drug convictions preventing him from touring in the U.S. and his addictions saddling his ability to play at recording sessions, other powers took over and he was kicked out of the band.  The Rolling Stones kept their bad-boy image and blues-based music but ventured more towards a pop sound in their post-Jones era.  

I think Stoned will be used in film and history classes as a tutorial in ‘60s youth culture.  It captures the era better than other similar films have done before, such as Oliver Stone’s The Doors or Bette Midler’s Joplinesque portrayal in The Rose.  To Woolley’s advantage, he wasn’t dealing with big icons like Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison and was able to show a very honest and balanced portrayal of Brian Jones who, as in real life, could easily be loathed and loved at the same time.

The British cast, mostly unknown to Americans, are all quite good, and even those playing Richards and Jagger capture the essence of their young legendary characters without trying to mimic.  Of all the famous souls in the film, Keith Richards, as portrayed by Ben Whishaw (HBO’s Rome, Layer Cake), comes away the most sympathetic as the one band member always sticking up for Jones and his desire to keep the band seated in the blues and his protection of Jones’ lover, Anita Pallenberg (Monet Mazur), who finally became fed up with Jones’ abuse and selfishness and moved on to Richards.  It’s a stark contrast to the walking corpse image we see today, and it’s refreshing knowing that these “boys” were once young, passionate, and hungry with desire to explode onto the world’s chaotic stage.

Stoned is in limited theatrical release at Landmark Theaters across the country beginning March 24th.  Go to www.landmarktheaters.com for more information.

Rich Burlingham