Michael Apted talks about clashing with Mick Jagger over unreleased Stones movie
Michael Apted (pictured at left) and Mick Jagger (pictured at right)
Award-winning director Michael Apted has opened up about what he describes as a "bitter" experience directing a Rolling Stones documentary in 2002 that was never released. Apted says he clashed repeatedly with Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger about how the film would be edited.
According to The Observer, Apted (who is president of the Directors Guild of America) made his remarks about the documentary at the 2012 Edinburgh International TV Festival.
Apted told attendees during a Q&A he did at the event: "The film and showed them a very rough cut and Mick said 'fine, finish it'. So I finished it and then I took it – I'll never forget it – to Las Vegas to show him and he said: 'We can't have this, this is not doing the band any good.' And he hired his hitman in to deal with it."
When Jagger asked Apted to cut 20 minutes out of the 105-minute rough cut, Apted recalled: "I said, 'All right.' So I did it and thought it was horrible. And I sent it back to him and there was silence. Then eventually he came back and said, 'Take another 20 minutes out of it.'" And I said, 'F*ck off.'"
Apted said that even though Jagger later apologized and thanked Apted for his work, Apted admitted that not having the film released left him feeling "bitter" about the experience. However, before the problems started over the editing, Apted said he enjoyed filming the band, and he had no problems working with the other members of the Rolling Stones. Apted filmed the Rolling Stones in Paris, doing rehearsals for the Licks world tour in Toronto, and during the first dates of the tour in Boston.
As for what happened to the movie, the Stones have their own copy but Apted revealed that he does too: "I've still got it. I don't think they've ever released it ... I occasionally show it to people. It was never dubbed or anything so it's a bit of a mess. That was a real disappointment. There are lots of other directors who've done the same things [with the Rolling Stones] and only the blandest films have ever made it through, like the [Martin] Scorsese thing [the 2008 documentary 'Shine a Light'].
"Mine was good because it was very emotional. They gave me a lot of contact, Charlie [Watts] and all of them. It was about their lives. What was great about it in a way was you could see they loved playing together. They were amazing.
"I remember they had this huge arena in New England they were playing and they came on, they were doing a soundcheck. And they started making up this blues song – it was beautiful. And I filmed it. Because their rap is they come out of retirement, make a big tax killing, make a ton of money. But they were really wonderful playing with each other. And I'd never seen a film about that."
In 2003, the Rolling Stones released a four-DVD set titled "Four Flicks," which was a documentary of the Licks world tour.
Apted's film credits include the documentary series that started with "7 Up," as well as the feature films "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," "The World Is Not Enough," "Gorillas in the Mist"' and "Coal Miner's Daughter."
According to The Observer, Apted (who is president of the Directors Guild of America) made his remarks about the documentary at the 2012 Edinburgh International TV Festival.
Apted told attendees during a Q&A he did at the event: "The film and showed them a very rough cut and Mick said 'fine, finish it'. So I finished it and then I took it – I'll never forget it – to Las Vegas to show him and he said: 'We can't have this, this is not doing the band any good.' And he hired his hitman in to deal with it."
When Jagger asked Apted to cut 20 minutes out of the 105-minute rough cut, Apted recalled: "I said, 'All right.' So I did it and thought it was horrible. And I sent it back to him and there was silence. Then eventually he came back and said, 'Take another 20 minutes out of it.'" And I said, 'F*ck off.'"
Apted said that even though Jagger later apologized and thanked Apted for his work, Apted admitted that not having the film released left him feeling "bitter" about the experience. However, before the problems started over the editing, Apted said he enjoyed filming the band, and he had no problems working with the other members of the Rolling Stones. Apted filmed the Rolling Stones in Paris, doing rehearsals for the Licks world tour in Toronto, and during the first dates of the tour in Boston.
As for what happened to the movie, the Stones have their own copy but Apted revealed that he does too: "I've still got it. I don't think they've ever released it ... I occasionally show it to people. It was never dubbed or anything so it's a bit of a mess. That was a real disappointment. There are lots of other directors who've done the same things [with the Rolling Stones] and only the blandest films have ever made it through, like the [Martin] Scorsese thing [the 2008 documentary 'Shine a Light'].
"Mine was good because it was very emotional. They gave me a lot of contact, Charlie [Watts] and all of them. It was about their lives. What was great about it in a way was you could see they loved playing together. They were amazing.
"I remember they had this huge arena in New England they were playing and they came on, they were doing a soundcheck. And they started making up this blues song – it was beautiful. And I filmed it. Because their rap is they come out of retirement, make a big tax killing, make a ton of money. But they were really wonderful playing with each other. And I'd never seen a film about that."
In 2003, the Rolling Stones released a four-DVD set titled "Four Flicks," which was a documentary of the Licks world tour.
Apted's film credits include the documentary series that started with "7 Up," as well as the feature films "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," "The World Is Not Enough," "Gorillas in the Mist"' and "Coal Miner's Daughter."
