In Toronto, Paul Simon takes a bow with a brand new career-spanning documentary

By Associated Press

TORONTO: After a three-and-a-half-hour documentary on his life, Paul Simon had solely sympathy for the viewers.

“You’re probably exhausted,” Simon advised the group after the premiere of Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” on Sunday on the Toronto International Film Festival.

The 81-year-old Simon, himself, hadn’t watched the movie earlier than its debut, and he didn’t watch it Sunday, both. “I’ll get up the courage to see it, no doubt,” he promised.

The movie, which is in search of distribution at TIFF, is an expansive take a look at Simon’s decades-spanning profession, from rising up in Queens, New York, with Art Garfunkel to the success of “Graceland,” the sensational 1986 album he made with South African musicians.

“In Restless Dreams,” which takes its title from a lyric in “The Sound of Silence” (“In restless dreams I walked alone”), additionally intimately captures Simon painstakingly assembling his newest album, “Seven Psalms,” which was launched in May.

He started the album, his first in a number of years, he says, after a dream in 2019 by which he envisioned an album of seven songs. His work at his dwelling studio in Wimberly, Texas, was made harder by Simon’s listening to loss in his left ear, throwing off his musical equilibrium.

“I haven’t accepted it entirely, but I’m beginning to,” Simon advised the viewers of his listening to loss in a post-screening Q&A.

Simon reached out to Gibney, the veteran documentarian of “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “Taxi to the Dark Side,” after admiring his 2015 documentary “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All.” Though the cameras took some adjusting to, Simon was content material for Gibney to assemble a story round his life.

“Having the truth about me depicted by an observer is very interesting to me,” Simon stated. “I think I’m probably not the person to want to describe what the truth is. I’m biased on both sides. I overestimate myself and I dislike myself to a sufficient degree that I’d rather give it to someone else to document.”

Further, Simon stated, he wished a few of his earlier recording periods had been filmed, like these for 1970’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” or “Graceland.” “In Restless Dreams” does embrace some uncommon footage, together with 16mm dailies from the making of the 1969 documentary “Songs of America” and early rehearsals of “Graceland.”

After some prodding, Simon acknowledged that he’s nonetheless making music and not too long ago wrote a brand new music. Ideas are additionally nonetheless coming to him at night time, too.

“The other night I dreamed again,” Simon stated, to applause. “I dreamed it would be a good idea if I wrote a song called ‘It’s What’s His Name.’ ”

TORONTO: After a three-and-a-half-hour documentary on his life, Paul Simon had solely sympathy for the viewers.

“You’re probably exhausted,” Simon advised the group after the premiere of Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” on Sunday on the Toronto International Film Festival.

The 81-year-old Simon, himself, hadn’t watched the movie earlier than its debut, and he didn’t watch it Sunday, both. “I’ll get up the courage to see it, no doubt,” he promised.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

The movie, which is in search of distribution at TIFF, is an expansive take a look at Simon’s decades-spanning profession, from rising up in Queens, New York, with Art Garfunkel to the success of “Graceland,” the sensational 1986 album he made with South African musicians.

“In Restless Dreams,” which takes its title from a lyric in “The Sound of Silence” (“In restless dreams I walked alone”), additionally intimately captures Simon painstakingly assembling his newest album, “Seven Psalms,” which was launched in May.

He started the album, his first in a number of years, he says, after a dream in 2019 by which he envisioned an album of seven songs. His work at his dwelling studio in Wimberly, Texas, was made harder by Simon’s listening to loss in his left ear, throwing off his musical equilibrium.

“I haven’t accepted it entirely, but I’m beginning to,” Simon advised the viewers of his listening to loss in a post-screening Q&A.

Simon reached out to Gibney, the veteran documentarian of “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “Taxi to the Dark Side,” after admiring his 2015 documentary “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All.” Though the cameras took some adjusting to, Simon was content material for Gibney to assemble a story round his life.

“Having the truth about me depicted by an observer is very interesting to me,” Simon stated. “I think I’m probably not the person to want to describe what the truth is. I’m biased on both sides. I overestimate myself and I dislike myself to a sufficient degree that I’d rather give it to someone else to document.”

Further, Simon stated, he wished a few of his earlier recording periods had been filmed, like these for 1970’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” or “Graceland.” “In Restless Dreams” does embrace some uncommon footage, together with 16mm dailies from the making of the 1969 documentary “Songs of America” and early rehearsals of “Graceland.”

After some prodding, Simon acknowledged that he’s nonetheless making music and not too long ago wrote a brand new music. Ideas are additionally nonetheless coming to him at night time, too.

“The other night I dreamed again,” Simon stated, to applause. “I dreamed it would be a good idea if I wrote a song called ‘It’s What’s His Name.’ ”