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Brian Wilson presents SMiLE
Starring: Natalie Imbruglia, Elvis Costello, Michael Vosse, Paul McCartney, Van Dyke Parks Director: David Leaf, John Anderson Average Rating: 
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| Customer Reviews 1-5 of 44 | NEXT >> |
2008-04-13This is one of the most moving experiences you will ever see recorded . If you have ever followed the Beach Boys, or you are into the creative proses, or if you just enjoy seeing someone conker their demons and acheive some greatness, and produce a completely moving work of art this is a DVD that you can not miss.
In disc one, After over 30 years of waiting, Brian Wilson was able to recieve the help of friends and family and create this beautiful peice of music. It fully doccuments the making of this artistic masterpeice. You see Brian Wilson go through the emotional changes as the peice comes together and watch him change from pain to joy as the music gradually comes together.
In disc two you see a full live concert of the entire peice. The title SMILE is what you do durring the playing of the entire disc two..
Do not miss this moving experience
2008-04-08An excelllent program with "Beautiful Dreamer" doccumentary DVD as a plus for all the music historians. Great added features with the best feature seeing Brian Wilson's Smile on his face! :)
2008-03-01I have written elsewhere that Pet Sounds is a great album but Smile is truely symphonic rather than a collection of songs.It is totally unpreceednted in the history of popular music and belongs in another catagory of greateness. Because of this fact it does not suprise me that its conseption was a concoction of remarkable positive energy and optomism stalled by the fears of others. The toll this took on Brian Wilson is entirely believable. I do not agree with those who point to drug use and undiagnosed mental illness (which admittedly is glossed over in this doccumentary) as reasons for the failure to produce Smile in 1967. Brian Wilson immersed himself totally in this project at the time, he lived and breathed it and it is difficult for many to apprieciate what this means to an artist. To be thwarted in such a way is devastating.
This is also a story of courage and eventual success. It would have been a great tradegy if Smile had never seen the light of day. So thank you Brian Wilson and all those who supported you. The story is well told and very moving.
The second disc is complimentary to the first and to the audio CD of Smile which you should also buy in addition to these DVD's. It is fascinating to see the effort that was required to play this music live on stage and in the recording studio.
2007-09-23The concert disc in this set may is easily the best music DVD I've seen. The recording is absolutely pristine, to the point where I found myself beggining to question whether the sounds I was hearing were actualy a live recording. The musicianship is superlative--the Wondermints form the core of the band, which makes that a given--and the performence spotless. And the camerawork and lighting are all tasteful, well edited, and intergrated with the music (I can't tell you how many music DVDs I've seen where the camera is squarely fixed on the person who isnt soloing at the time, or quick-cut for style instead of following the musical line). And, of course, the music itself is extrordinary.
The doccumentary disc is very intresting dispite itself. It's intended to be a paean to Brian Wilson, so it sugar coats a lot of things, is generaly superficial, and uses overblown language in the narration. Most disappointingly, it glosses over his mental illness--the single most significant thing in the story of Smile. To the extent that it's mentioned at all, it is reffered to as depression, with the vocal emphasis indicating quotation marks around the word, and it's always qualified as being the product of circumstances--he was sad because the band didnt like the music, he was worried that the public wouldn't understand it. That's ridiculous, of course. He says at one point he's hearing voices (put down, typically, to his acid use), and the film describes his having meetings in the middle of his swiming pool because it was the one place he felt wasnt bugged. So there's at least clincial paranoia and schizophrenia going on in there, and I suspect much more. It's unfortunate, because a fuller and more frank discussion of his illness would make him more sympathetic and the story of the ressurection of Smile all the more potent. But the film succeeds dispite this because durring the footage of rehersals for the modern Smile, we can clearly see the demons running riot in his head. durring the early rehersals he's almost catatonic, and the band has to take over. (It would be hard to say enough about how loving and supportive this band is, parituclarily Darian. They are a way the real stars of the film.) It's remarkable to watch him slowly come to life as the rehersals continue and he sinks into the music, but then, as the premiere approachs, he becomes more and more fearful and disturbed--you can almost hear the demons raging in there as he sits backstage waiting to go on. This is perhpas all the more powerfull because the film has gone to such lengths to downplay it, making it seem more like a secret and thus giving it implicit importance. And when he finaly does go out and perform, it is one of the most remarkable acts of courage I've ever seen. The band is rough here, much more so than in the later concert on disc 2, but the audience, rightly, erupts with passion. You know they're applauding not just for the music, though it certainly deserves it, but for the courage that Brian displays. I only wish the filmmakers had had as much courage in talking about his problems.
With that minor caveat, this is a magnificent package and a unique peice of history.
2007-04-26comphrehensive 2 DVD package chronicling the arrival in 2004 of Beach Boys' Brian Wilson's "Smile" album, that legendary hushed secret rumored to be as grand as "Sgt. Pepper", uncerimoniously leaked over the years in bootleg recordings, and finaly layed to rest as an impossable dream, a rock and roll fantasy on a par with a complete Beatles reunion. In 1967 the world grooved to Beach Boys' classic, "Good Vibrations", but the album which it heralded never arrived, abondoned by Wilson after costing him a chunk of mental well-being, as he found himself in artistic arrest, unable to iron out what he felt were imperfections to his masterpeice. He stuffed his production on a shelf somewhere and strolled away, from the album, and indeed from life. It only took therapy, a supportive new wife, and maybe a kilo of anti-depressants to lure Wilson from self exile and complete the album, 37 years after the fact. This DVD package, a doccumentary leading up to and including the unveiling of the complete "Smile" performed in London in 2004, and the complete album itself performed in Surfin' City USA, L.A., is a Beach Boys lovers wet California dream come true. The reclusive Wilson is seen like a fish reentering water, enthusiastically speaking of the history of "Smile", (Did anybody care after 37 years?), and his life and carreer; he tells of a young Beach Boys earliest recordings gaining popularaty as they repeatedly called a local radio station requesting their record. He is unassuming and confident, fragile and artistically obsessed, indeed taking "Smile" back into the recording studio cost him at least one more hospital visit, which was abruptly ended when his wife asked nonchalantly if he'd rather go out for dinner. He's keenly aware, and befuddled by the awe he inspires in his peers, and becomes frustrated with the reproduction of the album, expressing temperment, (and love), with studio musicians, and is totally unimpressed when Paul McCartney and other rock royalty visits him backstage just before the premier of "Smile". The only thing missing here, and it seemed vital with everyone and their brother offering insight into Wilson, is the surviving Beach Boys', (Mike Love), input on the reemergence of "Smile". Maybe they chose not to indulge, and if so, it was a grave error not to be in support of this historical footnote. Lest I forget the thing itself, the album "Smile" is wonderful, with lyrics by Van Dyke Parks, music by Brian Wilson, it is a resounding last surfer wave banging against the beach, a celebration of American pop music and it's attempt to lead the masses into a brighter tommorrow. But it is not so much the album that inspires and warms the heart, which it certainly does. It is the fact that Wilson finaly delivered "Smile" to the music world and his fans, when all hope was long dashed.
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| Editorial Review |
 Listen to our interview with Brian Wilson |
Smile with the music of Brian Wilson
 Smile |  Gettin' in over My Head |  Orange Crate Art |
 Pet Sounds Live |  I Just Wasn't Made for These Times |  Imagination |
This essential two-disc package features nearly four hours of material, including the Showtime documentary Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile, as well as an exclusive performance of Smile in its entirety. The collection also includes nearly two hours of bonus footage including never-before-seen interviews, performances, and recording session footage.
Track Listing and Content:
Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and The Story of Smile
Trailer for Beautiful Dreamer (Bonus Material)
Interview Highlights
Our Prayer
Gee
Heroes and Villains
Roll Plymouth Rock
Barnyard
Old Master Painter
You Are My Sunshine
Cabin Essence Wonderful
Song for Children
Child Is the Father of the Man
Surf's Up
I'm In Great Shape
I Wanna Be Around
Workshop
Vega-tables
On A Holiday
Wind Chimes
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
In Blue Hawaii
Good Vibrations
Outakes (bonus material)
Brian Wilson Photo Gallery
Brian Wilson at the Piano
Brian Wilson Presents Smile featurette
Heroes and Villains Fan Video
If you like "Brian Wilson presents SMiLE", you might also like ...
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SMiLE |
Beach Boys - An American Band / Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times |
That Lucky Old Sun (CD/DVD) |
The Beach Boys - Endless Harmony |
Pet Sounds Live in London |
