BEAUTIFUL DREAMER:
BRIAN WILSON AND THE
STORY OF SMiLE

Year: 2004
UK: ICA Projects
Cast: Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, Sir George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham, Elvis Costello, Roger Daltrey, Jeff Bridges, Jimmy Webb, Lou Adler, Burt Bacharach, Sir Paul McCartney, David Anderle, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Michael Vosse
Director: David Leaf
Country: USA
UK: 109 mins
UK Release Date: 10 December 2004 (Limited Release - London)

Synopsis

The film includes exclusive eyewitness accounts by those who were there in 1966, including Wilson's co-songwriter Van Dyke Parks, as well as commentary from Beatles producer Sir George Martin, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Elvis Costello, Roger Daltrey, Jeff Bridges, to Jimmy Webb, Lou Adler, Burt Bacharach, journalists, producers and musicians, together with rare behind-the-scenes footage of the early production of SMiLE.

Slated for release in early 1967 and set to be Brian Wilson's revolutionary follow-up to the critically acclaimed Pet Sounds, SMiLE was to feature acclaimed tracks such as 'Good Vibrations', 'Surf's Up', and 'Heroes and Villains'. Despite the anticipation, it was never completed, and in the 37 years hence, it became a mythical piece of music.

BEAUTIFUL DREAMER charts the journey of SMiLE, from its initial inception in 1966, in the midst of the Beach Boys' rising commercial pop success, through the creative processes and collaborations from which SMiLE came about, to its disappearance into obscurity for over thirty years.

Enshrouded in tales of mind-blowing avant-garde brilliance, BEAUTIFUL DREAMER explains the enduring impact of SMiLE on Brian and his musical collaborators, until its live renaissance in 2004, at the Royal Festival Hall, London.