TORONTO (AP) 鈥� After a three-and-a-half-hour documentary on his life, Paul Simon had only sympathy for the audience.
鈥淵ou're probably exhausted,鈥� Simon told the crowd after the premiere of Alex Gibney's on Sunday at the
The 81-year-old Simon, himself, hadn't watched the film before its debut, and he didn't watch it Sunday, either. 鈥淚'll get up the courage to see it, no doubt,鈥� he promised.
The film, which is seeking distribution at TIFF, is an expansive look at Simon's decades-spanning career, from growing up in Queens, New York, with Art Garfunkel to the success of 鈥淕raceland,鈥� the sensational 1986 album he made with South African musicians.
鈥淚n Restless Dreams,鈥� which takes its name from a lyric in 鈥淭he Sound of Silence鈥� ("In restless dreams I walked alone"), also intimately captures Simon painstakingly assembling his latest album, 鈥淪even Psalms," which was released in May.
He began the album, his first in several years, he says, after a dream in 2019 in which he envisioned an album of seven songs. His work at his home studio in Wimberly, Texas, was made more difficult by Simon's hearing loss in his left ear, throwing off his musical equilibrium.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 accepted it entirely, but I鈥檓 beginning to,鈥� Simon told the audience of his hearing loss in a post-screening Q&A.
Simon reached out to Gibney, the veteran documentarian of and 鈥淭axi to the Dark Side,鈥� after admiring his 2015 documentary 鈥淪inatra: All or Nothing at All.鈥� Though the cameras took some adjusting to, Simon was content for Gibney to assemble a narrative around his life.
鈥淗aving the truth about me depicted by an observer is very interesting to me," Simon said. "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.鈥�
Further, Simon said, he wished some of his earlier recording sessions had been filmed, like those for 1970's 鈥淏ridge Over Troubled Water鈥� or 鈥淕raceland.鈥� 鈥淚n Restless Dreams鈥� does include some rare footage, including 16mm dailies from the making of the 1969 documentary 鈥淪ongs of America鈥� and early rehearsals of 鈥淕raceland.鈥�
After some prodding, Simon acknowledged that he is still making music and recently wrote a new song. Ideas are also still coming to him at night, too.
鈥淭he other night I dreamed again,鈥� Simon said, to applause. 鈥淚 dreamed it would be a good idea if I wrote a song called 鈥業t's What's His Name.' 鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
