Anita Pallenberg lived through the wildest years of the Rolling Stones, went to hell and made it back

Just as the art world loves its legend of the muse, the woman who inspires creators, the world of rock ‘n’ roll adores its archetype of the groupie, the young fan dazzled by the shine of stars. Euterpe was the ancient Greek muse of musicians, one of the nine as chronicled by the poet Hesiod. But it is model-actress Anita Pallenberg who has been portrayed as equal parts muse and groupie to the Rolling Stones during their wildest years. In 1965, she snuck into the band’s dressing room during a Munich concert and wound up not leaving the members’ side for more than a decade, during which she lent a certain sophistication to the band’s image. She had a toxic relationship with Brian Jones, which ended prior to his 1969 drowning death in his own swimming pool; she had an affair with Mick Jagger and wound up married to Keith Richards, with whom she had three children, although one would die at just 10 weeks old. She accompanied the Stones in their various exiles: once in Nice, where they took refuge from British tax authorities, and in Switzerland, where they fled after a raid over suspected heroin possession — later, they would be locked up on the same charge in Toronto. She got high alongside the band as well, and once had an affair with a man who killed himself in her bedroom. After these tragedies, she wound up abandoned by everyone and suffering from addiction, begging for her next fix. But just when the world seemed to have forgotten her, Pallenberg got sober and for a few years, returned to her former glory.

The documentary Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg, which premiered in Cannes last summer and is now streaming on Apple TV, reconstructs her life through firsthand material. It is largely based on Pallenberg’s autobiography, which she titled Black Magic and was found by her children after her death in 2017. The book remains unpublished, but in the film, parts of its text are voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Two of Pallenberg’s kids, Marlon and Angela, are also featured, as are friends and collaborators. We hear a voiceover by Richards, who still considers her the love of his life many years after their separation. Good material was also recorded during the scandalous years. The documentary’s tone is hardly moralistic, instead looking to focus attention on what the woman brought to the legendary rock ‘n’ rollers; if anything, it is Pallenberg herself who is her own harshest judge. At the same time, she does state, “I don’t need to settle accounts with the past.”

Born in Rome in the middle of World War II, member of a family with German roots of which they never spoke, she was an irresistibly beautiful young woman who exuded a natural freshness that opened many doors. She doesn’t mention her parents much in her memoirs, but a childhood friend says they were very conservative and bridled at her eagerness to dive into the pop scene. At 20 years old, she moved to New York, where she rubbed elbows with Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg and Jasper Johns. She eventually made the leap to catwalks and editorial spreads, though she says that she never saw herself as a professional model. She shot the infamous sci-fi film Barbarella with Jane Fonda. And in Munich, she invited Brian Jones to smoke a joint. At the time, he was considered the coolest Rolling Stone. But the relationship soured: Jones was an impulsive and violent guy who abused her. One day, she was assaulted by him during the band’s trip to Morocco. Richards intervened, spiriting her away. She was his partner from then on, but that didn’t stop Jagger from hitting on her. Pallenberg won’t confirm how far things went with the singer, but they did shoot a film called Performance together in which they had a torrid love scene. It’s clear that the Stones’ competitiveness extended to their romantic conquests.

Richards isn’t as shown in quite the same negative light as Jones in the film, but he isn’t portrayed as a saint, either. In the beginning, he was protective of Pallenberg, if too possessive, pressuring her to end her career. They shared problematic relationships with substances. It all came to an end with the demise of baby Tara from sudden infant death syndrome in 1976. Images of Richards at the Stones concert the band performed that very night in Paris are compelling: after learning of the tragedy, he was still determined to perform. The show must go on, as went the motto that the band has subscribed to throughout six decades, during which it has withstood everything that life has thrown its way.

Pallenberg, depressed and wracked with guilt over the drugs she consumed while pregnant with Tara, stayed in New York with her oldest son. Richards brought their youngest to his paternal grandmother’s home in England. The guitarist seldom visited Pallenberg, taking shelter instead in his career. Their eldest, Marlon, was at her home on the day that Scott Cantrall, his mother’s occasional 17-year-old lover, shot himself in her bedroom, according to official accounts while playing Russian roulette after seeing the movie The Deer Hunter. Marlon helped to clear the area of illegal substances, as his parents had taught him to do, stayed with his mother until the police arrived, and then left home for good. Pallenberg, alone and dejected, then entered into her darkest period. She says that she even stole her friends’ drugs, walking the most sordid streets in search of her next fix. She saw herself as a source of death and destruction.

The story can be very bitter, but it ends with a brief moment of redemption. Pallenberg was able to rehabilitate herself and reappeared in the world of fashion and film as a mature woman. Her glamour shined once again, inspiring younger models like Kate Moss, with whom she formed a friendship, and Sienna Miller. In one of her last projects, Mister Lonely, she played Queen Elizabeth II. She repaired her relationship with her children, although it is striking that today, both refer to her as “Anita”, similar to how they call “Keith” by his first name.

Pallenberg was at the center of all that was going on during those dizzying years, which were as memorable for music as they were devastating for some of their central figures. She was a free, hedonistic woman surrounded by alpha males in the testosterone-infused world of rock. A creature of her time, a never-to-be-repeated time. She is not to be judged, but she is to be understood. And that is just what the film manages to do.

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