Rolling Stones ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ Film Re-Released for 50th Anniversary
Sympathy for the Devil (One Plus One), Jean-Luc Godard’s 1968 movie based around the recording of the classic Rolling Stones song, will be re-released to mark its 50th anniversary.
The 4K restoration will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and via digital channels on Oct. 5. A a celebratory screening will take place at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, followed by a series of screenings from Sept. 13 to 19 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“Sympathy for the Devil alternates between reflections on contemporary politics and social issues of the late 1960s as well as giving the audience an unprecedented view of The Rolling Stones creative process in the recording studio working on what would become one of the band’s defining tracks,” ABKCO Films said in a statement. “The Rolling Stones original line up of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman were joined by Nicky Hopkins, Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg and James Fox in the landmark session that took place at Olympic Sound Studios in London in June 1968.”
You can watch an original-era trailer for the movie below.
The new expanded release includes Godard’s One Plus One director’s cut of the movie, the 1968 behind-the-scenes documentary Voices and a 2018 film that includes interviews with production team members Tony Richmond and Mum Scala. Also included is a new commentary track and an essay by author Danny Goldberg.
“Musically, the film shows the Stones manifesting a fragile balance between fidelity to roots and to innovation," Goldberg writes. "Created more than a decade before MTV began, Sympathy for the Devil can be seen as a long music video, completely unique at the time in showing the work and creativity that goes into the making of a record.”