Directed by Alex Gibney, IN RESTLESS DREAMS chronicles the career of Paul Simon from the early Sixties to the present day as he struggles with hearing loss and a concerning vocal condition while putting together his latest album, Seven Psalms.
In the naked light of this candid camera on his career, we encounter the creative process of this superb songwriter’s six decade craftsmanship, the frustrations and this quest for the elusive excellence, the striving for the perfect.
It’s hard to believe that Simon’s classic song, The Sound of Silence, bombed on first release, that he left New York and Art Garfunkel to live and work in London for a couple of years, and only came back when the song was re- engineered by Tom Wilson.
His association with Garfunkel created one of the great duos in popular music and their association with Mike Nichols’ film, The Graduate sealed their fate in more ways than one.
That film’s soundtrack boosted the duo into a global stratosphere but Garfunkel’s choice to pursue a partnership with Nichols as an actor in subsequent pictures, Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge, created disharmony in the music making pair.
But Paul Simon continued to make music embarking on a solo career, writing songs that cheered the ears of ten thousand people, most certainly more, disturbing any sound of silence to his talent.
IN RESTLESS DREAMS charts the obvious successes but does not shy away from the failures, both personal and career. His foray into film, One Trick Pony, bombed at the box office, his much publicised marriage to Carrie Fisher faltered not far from the altar.
The triumphs, however, far outweigh the defeats, and this film shows that failure can be harnessed into victory if we learn from it and wrestle from it something positive. That’s what the creative spirit is all about, rising above the destructive.
That creative spirit permeates IN RESTLESS DREAMS, revealing a venerable artist still restless to create, still crazy after all these years.
IN RESTLESS DREAMS screens exclusively on Doc Play* from July 4
*DocPlay is now available on Foxtel iQ.
