The Stone Roses: Made of Stone (2013)

The opening of Made of Stone is grand: Ian Brown walks through the stands of fans awaiting a gig; high definition camera picking up the beaming lights from all directions; all audio silenced and a soundbite of Alfred Hitchcock talking about happiness played over the top. It's one of those moments when all the elements that could go into film - visuals, editing, sound, the whole shebang - are firing full speed ahead and you can just watch in awe. You allow a moment of total sentimentality through your bullshit filter. I imagine for a fan truly immersed in The Stone Roses, you'd get this same feeling of full immersion and joy being part of the audience of their comeback gig, after nearly 20 years of silence. And director Shane Meadows succeeds in his job of giving the same feeling of awe to people watching at home in their bedrooms.

Watching The Stone Roses: Made of Stone made me ask: to enjoy a documentary, do you have to be a fan of the subject? At least know somewhat about it? Or are films like this, based on one artist, mainly for the fans? I realized the answer's no; the best of these movies treat you like a fan, and let you catch up if you're not one. My experience with The Stone Roses was giving a single listen to their first album (of two - and the only acclaimed one) and rarely playing their songs since. Not that I didn't like their music, just that I didn't have the context that Made of Stone makes it much easier to understand.

The film is part tour diary, part band history; Meadows includes his own fandom in the movie and from the feeling he gives, he seems to have just picked up a camera, a small crew, and followed the Roses with the confidence that magic would happen. Magic is subjective, but seeing a group of men who once trashed their guitars mid-gig and walked off stage, claiming they'd never work together again, rehearse together and re-find the rhythm in the lead up to their comeback is something special. Meadows structures the film showing the band's ups and downs reforming alongside the ups and downs of their original lineup. This isn't like a TV special - scanning the Roses' Wikipedia page will tell you more about how they formed; instead Meadows is interested in what a Wiki can't give you: showing the band back stage and in rehearsals and how the personalities bounce (and sometimes grate) off of each other.

The past footage of the Roses brings to mind funny anecdotes, not serious info videos. Out of all the interviews Meadows could have played, he chooses to include one where two members of the band sit gormless, not really sure of anything other than that they are in the best band in the world. You understand the personality and where the band comes from more than anything. I can't comment on how Made of Stone will appeal to a hardcore fan, but I'll say that, as an outsider, this is the sort of documentary that makes me want to go out and watch as many videos on bands I hardly know about as I can. Which I'd call a success.