Scorsese starts them up ... the Stones on film

The four joked on the red carpet about their longevity - a running theme in the film - as they hailed Shine A Light, a film of two concerts directed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts were cheered by a noisy crowd as they emerged on to the red carpet for the evening gala screening at the 58th Berlin Film Festival.

Richards, in a red bandanna and sunglasses, said: "This is me doing my thing and thank God Martin wanted to capture it. I had no idea the cameras were on. I just did my thing."

Scorsese, celebrated for his use of their songs on his soundtracks, filmed the Stones at two concerts in New York's intimate Beacon Theatre in 2006. Shine A Light, named after a song on their 1972 album Exile On Main St, was shot using 17 cameras, capturing the band from every conceivable angle and offering extreme close-ups.

Jagger, now 64, defies his years, gyrating and pouting his way through a string of hits including Jumpin' Jack Flash, Brown Sugar and Start Me Up.

Scorsese adds clips of blackand-white archive footage between songs showing a young Jagger fielding often inane and repetitive questions from reporters around the world.

It shows him being asked in 1965 how long the Stones could keep going. "I don't know," he replied. "I think we're pretty well set up for at least another year."

In another interview he was asked: "Can you picture yourself at the age of 60 doing what you're doing now?" Jagger answered: "Yeh, easily. Yeh."

And it shows Keith Richards saying to the teenage girls grabbing at him at the front of the concert: "It's good to see you all. It's good to see anybody!"

Jagger sings on stage with Jack White of The White Stripes, Christina Aguilera and a mesmerising Buddy Guy.

Least comfortable of all before the camera is drummer Charlie Watts, the oldest of the band at 66. "I hate it, but it's very beautifully filmed," he said, when asked how he found the experience of making the movie.

Evening Standard critic Derek Malcolm said: "It's a two-hour exercise in on-going nostalgia which Bill Clinton introduces, thankfully without his saxophone, and all the better for peering at the veterans as if they were as likely to drop dead at any moment and need preserving in aspic."