MARTIN SCORSESE - STONES ROLL INTO BERLIN

STONES ROLL INTO BERLIN

Martin Scorsese's new concert movie about the Rolling Stones has opened this year's Berlin film festival.

Shine a Light, co-produced in conjunction with the band, intercuts songs from their 2006 show at the Beacon Theatre in New York City with archive footage and looks at the Stones' backstage routines.

Though it is not included in the list of 21 films vying for the prestigious Golden Bear trophy, Shine a Light garnered a warm reception at a press screening ahead of last night's glamorous red carpet premiere.

Scorsese, who last year finally scooped the best director Oscar for The Departed, explained he had long considered a possible collaboration with the Stones.

"Whenever I saw the show I'd get excited - I want to get a camera up there," Scorsese told reporters at a news conference.

"We tried to get as close as possible to the energy of a live concert.

"Obviously it can't beat a live performance but if we're close enough and detailed enough and if it has a poetry of motion in the way the cameras move, then that gives you something as close as possible to a live performance."

Stones guitarist Keith Richards added that the Taxi Driver director had been admirably cooperative during the project, saying the group "didn't even see" Scorsese's cameras.

"That was important to me. If you're aware you're shooting a movie, things change," he continued. "And then you don't really capture the show. What Martin did brilliantly was take that out of the equation."

Shine a Light is showing out of competition at the festival, with the likes of There Will Be Blood, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lick and entries from Japan's Yoji Yamada and Hong Kong director Johnnie To competing for the Golden Bear.