The Life Of Brian (a short treatment)

The Life of Brian (a short treatment)

I have followed closely over the last year since the announcement was made that a Brian Wilson biopic was to be produced by River Road Entertainment and scripted by Oren Moverman The fact that this subject matter was going to finally be turned into a film was extraordinarily exciting to me. As a young 20 something, well over 15 years ago, I dreamed of one day being able to be a screenwriter and director. And this was one of the most compelling stories I know of in American popular culture of the 20th Century.

What follows is a summation of how I would like to see the life of Brian Wilson brought to the screen.

Major Characters:

Brian Wilson: Songwriter/Producer/Performer for the Beach Boys (oldest Wilson brother)
Marilyn Wilson: 1st Wife of Brian Wilson (1964-1979)
Melinda Wilson: 2nd Wife of Brian Wilson (1995-present)
Carl Wilson: Songwriter/Producer/Performer for the Beach Boys (youngest Wilson brother)
Dennis Wilson: Songwriter/Performer for the Beach Boys (middle Wilson brother)
Murry Wilson: Father of Wilson Brothers
Audree Wilson: Mother of Wilson Brothers
Mike Love: Songwriter/Performer for the Beach Boys (Wilson family cousin)
Al Jardine: Songwriter/Performer for the Beach Boys (Wilson family friend)
Van Dyke Parks: Songwriter with Brian Wilson on specific Beach Boys projects
Phil Spector: Songwriter/Producer
Dr. Eugene Landy: Personal MD and Psychologist to Brian Wilson in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Overview:

Arising from the California youth culture of the early 1960s, The Beach Boys took the American (and International) pop charts by storm. Driven by the soundscape as dreamed by the bands leader, Brian Wilson, the group continued a meteoric rise even in the midst of the Beatles musical ascendency. However, Wilson was battling personal insecurity and the onset mental illness even as the band created some of their most revered work in the mid 1960s.

Following the crushing failure to complete what he considered to be his masterpiece, the “SMiLE” album in 1967, Wilson began a slow descent into schizoaffective and bi-polar disorder as well as hardcore abuse of food & drugs. During this period, he only sporadically contributed to the bands output throughout much of the next decade before an ill-fated group comeback in 1976. This decade closes with Wilson’s marriage dissolving and his personal life in shambles.

As another decade turned, Wilson still found himself battling many of the personal demons that haunted him since his youth. His family turned to Psychologist/Svengali, Eugene Landy, to help him. Wilson credits Landy for saving his life though ultimately he pulls away from the hold Landy has over his mind and his financial assets. After a number of years out of the public eye, Wilson attempts several solo comebacks, eventually remarries and completes the abandoned “SMiLE” album in 2004 to rapturous reviews.

Act 1:

Black screen. Sound of a needle on a turntable and the opening drum beats from the Ronettes “Be My Baby” plays, at least 5 times. Fade in on a 30 year old Brian Wilson in bed, 1972. Bearded, bloated, smoking a cigarette, he is shown fidgeting with his bedside turntable, finally letting the song play under the soundtrack as he takes long drags on the cigarette and stares into space. By the time the bridge of “Be My Baby” comes in the song fades down and the screen dissolves into the Four Freshmen “It’s a Blue World”. The screen reads “1958, Hawthorne, California”, and a teenage Brian Wilson sits, with his brothers, and plays the 78 RPM on the family turntable.

Brian, even in his youth, is beginning the process of dissecting Four Freshmen four-part harmonies for he and his brothers to sing. The Wilson Brothers father, Murry, comes in the home after work and immediately starts belittling Brian and his brothers. Telling them they will never be a success at anything because they are all lazy and aren’t strong enough to make it. Later, Murry is shown bursting in the boys’ room at night because he hears Dennis playing a transistor radio under the covers “I told you to turn off the goshdarn music!”
Murry Wilson, a moonlighting songwriter in his own right, had minor success while the boys were little with the song “One Step, Two Step”. This is alluded to briefly as Murry plays his prized copy of the song and looks at the label. Murry can sense Brian’s gift at vocally dissecting the Four Freshmen and is ultimately jealous of his eldest son’s gifts.

The eldest Wilson Brothers are shown attending Hawthorne High School. Brian is fast friends with a young neighbor by the name of David Marks. He is close friends with classmate Al Jardine. The two friends play for Hawthorne’s football team and this is touched on momentarily.
“1961”. Brian is shown with cousin Mike Love as they are home while Brian’s parents are away for the weekend. The two cousins’ decide they want to write a song together. They write what would be the band’s first single for the Candix label, “Surfin’”. Brian drives around all evening in his prized mid-50s Ford Fairlane, having requested “Surfin’” be played on the radio. When he hears his and Mike’s creation he is sent into a immense high and his desire to creatively succeed is born. Murry Wilson, now made a believer in the boys’ ability to attain success actively pursues getting them signed to Capitol Records. Based on the regional success of “Surfin’” and the youth culture movement of Southern California, Capitol signs the band with Murry as their manager.

“Montage”. To illustrate the bands chart successes the montage will show re-enacted live performances, Billboard Chart Listings, 45 RPM’s, Album Covers and feature the following songs: “Surfin’ Safari”, “Little Deuce Coupe”, “Surfer Girl”, “In My Room”, “Catch A Wave”, “Be True To Your School”, “Fun, Fun, Fun” & “The Warmth Of the Sun”.

“The Ed Sullivan Show, 1964”. In black & white, the band is shown in their breakthrough performance of their first American #1 hit, “I Get Around”, complete version shown. Immediately following this Brian is shown meeting Marilyn Rovell prior to a show. The two marry in December, 1964. Jump to 1965 and the infamous altercation with Murry Wilson and Brian in the studio during the recording of “Help Me, Rhonda”. This leads to the firing of Murry as the group’s manager.

Brian, now age 23 and at the height of his creative prowess tries marijuana for the first time. He is also shown dropping acid for the first time and as has been noted many times, goes to a piano and begins playing the first bars of “California Girls”. He also has his first nervous breakdown, while in flight. At this point, Bruce Johnston is introduced as the newest member of the band, assisting with further fleshing out Brian’s harmonic studio blend as well as touring in place of Brian.

“1966”. Brian’s car, a Corvette Sting Ray, is shown arriving at the Western Recorders late at night as he shuffles in. Musicians begin filing in to the studio, several dissolves later the studio musicians, at Brian’s direction are running through nearly finished versions of “God Only Knows”. A montage shows the group recording vocals and more studio sessions with musicians for numerous “Pet Sounds” tracks followed by the rave reviews from various publications.

Act 2:

Brian is shown at home with Marilyn, in bed, listening to “Pet Sounds” and weeping.
Brian attends a party in the Hollywood Hills and re-acquaints himself with Van Dyke Parks, a young songwriter who had been a child actor in television and films. Wilson prods Parks to assist him with lyrics on a new song he is working on, “Good Vibrations”. Parks declines but the two do begin working on songs shortly thereafter that would become the ill-fated “SMiLE” album.
Wilson continues 6 months worth of production throughout the summer and fall of 1966 on his magnum opus, “Good Vibrations”. He co-writes the song with cousin, Mike Love. The band is shown recording the vocal parts for the track that would ultimately become the groups 3rd #1 single.

“SMiLE”. Brian is shown with Van Dyke Parks sitting in the sand box in the middle of the living room, playing piano and working on songs. The sand box back story is fleshed out in the story when various band members drop by the house.
Brian is shown with various studio musicians recording numerous “SMiLE” tracks and the group is shown recording vocal queues and tracks, particularly “Our Prayer”, “Wind Chimes” & the back end of “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow”.
The band is shown during the filming of a promotional video for “Good Vibrations”, shown in cut up snippets here.
We follow a hand written note that is delivered from Brian to Capitol Records executives, illustrating the full intent to finish the record and that the band is hard at work to do so.

Mike Love particularly expresses concerns over the lyrics to specific songs and the band has loud disagreements at one point, Love criticizes the lyrics written by Van Dyke Parks, prompting Parks to leave the recording sessions for good.
Though Brian has been feverishly editing and focused on meeting quickly passing scheduled release dates, he is quickly coming to the realization that he may be unable to finish the record.

A recreation of Brian’s performance of “Surf’s Up” from the Leonard Bernstein special, complete with Bernstein’s narration, which originally aired in April of 1967 on CBS, is shown. The end of this scene concludes with a fade to black, illustrating the end of the work on “SMiLE”.

“Four Years Later”. Marilyn Wilson walks upstairs to find Brian in bed, now almost totally unrecognizable (for the audience) from what he looked like in 1967. As he lies in bed looking at the ceiling, Marilyn prods him to get up and go to the studio and be with his brothers, shake off the malaise.

Brian is shown briefly working on the song “’Til I Die” and the entire song is played on the soundtrack.

Brian wakes up in bed one morning with his head on the pillow. He snorts cocaine and lights a cigarette and again stares aimlessly. He has an out of body experience where he has a conversation with himself; this is to illustrate his full descent into mental illness. During this interlude, he has a conversation with his dead father and the two fight about Brian’s deaf ear. *

A brief interlude is shown with family and friends pushing Brian into recording again in 1976 and doing press for the “Brian’s Back” period. Brian is shown playing a solo piano version of “Sloop John B” on the Mike Douglas Show in 1976. He also answers questions about his time away from the business, admitting to his addictions, etc.

Brian again relapses and is shown playing in local tavern in Los Angeles for free drinks. He also is shown playing with both of his daughters (Carnie & Wendy) in the family den and at one point offers Carnie an illegal drug. At this point Marilyn threatens divorce and the couple separates.

Act 3:

Brian is shown having a psychiatric consultation with Dr. Eugene Landy. Followed by some of the “terror sessions” where Landy tells Brian “there’s only room for one crazy person in Brian’s head – and that’s me”.

Carnie makes her first attempt to reach out to her father but is denied by Brian’s handlers.

Brian has his initial run in with Nurse Melinda Ledbetter.

Brian’s comeback attempt is shown in 1988 and also in a 20/20 expose about his relationship with Dr. Landy. Shortly after, Landy is fired.

Brian marries Melinda Ledbetter in 1995 and he has finally gotten to a solid spot in his life where his mental stability
Wilson is shown re-uniting with daughters Carnie & Wendy.

Brian’s touring band is shown performing “Pet Sounds” Live in 1999.

Melinda approaches Brian in 2002 and suggests that he finally finish “SMilE”.

Brian completes and performs “SMiLE” live in London, in 2004 and he receives ravenous applause.

End.

Final Thoughts:

* All music performances are original performances by the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, et al
* The epilogue is shown and mentions Brian’s 21st Century comeback and recording of new solo material in his 60’s

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