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The one plain thing this documentary told us about the reasons for the failure of Smile is that it was down to something happening in Brian’s life that made his professional life as the leader of the group unravel. Was it just the drugs and the mental problems those created? Was he literally so out of his mind on drugs he wasn’t able to literally physically and then mentally to actually do all the work required? This is what I was asking myself while watching. Also, it seems how what Mike has said in years past that in the end it was Brian’s choice alone to abandon the project probably is an accurate summary after all. All of us here know that there is a alot more to the story regarding details – though we dont have the complete picture either – but in the end I guess it really was just Brian’s decision. This brings the question that I cant answer; what happened to him?
I sometimes wonder what the boys privately talk about Smile to people they trust; it is obvious we have never gotten all the facts of what happened which is sad because that time is the part of the band that in many ways defined much of the story of the band. The Beautiful dreamer docu back in the day was worthless in explaining any of this and was just a generic promo piece. No books have really given us much except the official version and/or the hazy legend. I wish some serious A-level historian would tackle this subject and write a comprehensive history of the Smile project with new research in academic quality standard including doing multiple interviews again and again with those who were there and are still around to tell the story. And I am talking about serious academic level interviews to get every snippet of possible info to reveal all relevant details.
In general about the documentary I think Mike tearing up at the end was a symbolic detail that shows there is so much more to the story of the band and unfortunately you cannot fit much of that into a single documentary. Considering how old the members are and Brian is no longer capable of telling that story there will likely be much questions left unanswered (especially reagrding Smile).
I used the word "anachronistic" to describe this documentary's treatment of "Smile" because the way it was treated wasn't all that different from how it was presented in "An American Band" from 40 freakin' years ago:
1976-era unhinged Brian Wilson talking about how unhinged he had been 10 years earlier... check.
Scrawny, poorly dressed, weirdo-phase Van Dyke Parks holding court in the Tower Records parking lot... check.
Misleading use of the "Good Vibrations" fire department film footage when Brian is talking about the "Fire" track sessions... check.
"Inside Pop" footage of Brian at piano doing Surf's Up... check.
There was no acknowledgment whatsoever that the legend of Smile as the greatest album never released grew exponentially over the decades and how the music was too damned briliiant to stay hidden.... and trickled out bit by bit on the BBs' own albums and on bootlegs... hell, Frank Holmes' Smile shop ended up on the freakin' cover for a mid-90s hardcover book on the subject of bootlegs... that's how iconic it was and is. And yet where is Frank Holmes' artwork in this new documentary? The Smile shop cover is an utterly iconic piece of Beach Boys lore... and yet it's a no-show in this film? This was a movie made by people who don't quite "get it." You can say that "Beautfiul Dreamer" was a promo film, but the story told by the likes of Vosse and Anderle differed significantly from the "crazy," "acid alliteration" narrative told by Mike Love and 1976-ish Brian Wilson.
This documentary would have done more justice to subject of Smile if they had simply repackaged Capitol's promo interviews from 2011...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7vCQisW_4... where Mark Linett hits the nail on the head on why the Smile legend had grown ("... because the music is so stunning")... and Mike is full of praise for "Wonderful," "brilliant music, brilliant tracks" etc. and Bruce mentions Brian's description of a "teenage symphony to God" ... and how did *that* iconic phrase not make the cut in this documentary either?? Again, this was a film made by people who just don't get it.