Beautifully shot doc still difficult to watch
Patti Smith: Dream of Life is a striking film. Shot in a mix of high-grain black-and-white (not-so-coincidentally reminiscent of photographer Robert Maplethorpe’s photos of Smith) and equally grainy colour it’s no surprise the film won an award for its cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival. Considering the care that went into shooting it what’s surprising is how little control director Steven Sebring brings to the rest of the film.
Dream of Life’s subtitle is particularly appropriate. Though the film follows Smith over a 10-year period it feels more like a series of loosely connected vignettes. We see Smith having coffee with her parents going through stacks of trinkets in her apartment and doing grave rubbings at her friend Alan Ginsberg’s final resting place. The scenes are narrated by Smith herself talking about her life or reading her poetry. With the exception of a few concert scenes it all moves at a languid pace with the hazy uncertainty of a dream.
Despite all this the film does manage some engrossing moments. Smith is one of the more interesting figures in the post-punk era — Horses her 1975 deconstruction of rock ’n’ roll inspired artists from REM to The Smiths not to mention virtually every female rocker in her wake. Bits of Dream of Life are fascinating like when Smith discusses the death of her husband Fred “Sonic” Smith of MC5 or when she goes through the stories behind various objects in her apartment but Sebring goes out of his way to avoid providing a traditional documentary narrative. The film’s impressionistic take on its subject is probably in line with Smith’s character but it also makes for difficult viewing.