听 There may be plenty of good vibrations in David Leaf's rousing documentary about 60s musical genius Brian Wilson, but you have to travel through dark days of drug abuse, emotional crises and law suits to get to them. Recounting the legendary story of Wilson's time with The Beach Boys and his ambitious plans to pen a progressive rock symphony called SMiLE, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story Of SMiLE takes us behind the scenes of the sounds of the 60s and charts one man's attempt to create his very own bohemian rhapsody.
Beginning his musical career with The Beach Boys penning chart-toppers like Surfing USA and I Get Around, Wilson's talent took 60s rock 'n' roll into progressive territory with envelope-shoving albums like Pet Sounds. LSD was a revelation - his first trip produced California Girls - and kick-started a period of hyperactive experimentation. In 1966 he disappeared into the recording studio: weeks, months and years passed as acid dreams turned into acid nightmares.
"A VALUABLE MUSIC DOCUMENTARY"
Carefully retelling the story of Wilson's crash and burn into fruity-as-a-nut cake craziness and emotional collapse without ever becoming overly sensational, Leaf's documentary pays respectful homage to one of the key figure of 60s American music. Following the aging songwriter/performer as he completes his unfinished symphony in the present day, there's never much doubt as to how it'll all end: SMiLE is finally unveiled in the UK to a standing ovation.
Ignore the portentous and misjudged Discovery Channel style voiceover; the real joy here is in listening to various musical luminaries (including Andrew Loog Oldham and Sir George Martin) recount the exuberant optimism of the 60s. Concisely outlining Wilson's genius, Beautiful Dreamer works as both a valuable music doc and as a missive from the frontlines of the 60s counterculture where the mind-blowing power of LSD sometimes turned the smile on a bright yellow happy face into a fractured frown.
