Shape of Things

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I caught Joe Berlinger's Under African Skies, an okay doc about the history and legacy of Paul Simon's Graceland, at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. And I liked...well, went with it for the most part. But I couldn't settle into the substance for a reason that some might find superficial. But I don't think so.

Under African Skies has two narratives -- the making of Simon's landmark 1986 album and a 2010 South African reunion with the original musicians, and Simon coming to grips with the political blowback to Graceland. Simon was criticized for having swooped in and exploited a South African sound (and the musicians he hired to play it) for selfish or myopic careerist ends, and for ignoring a United Nations-enforced boycott against the apartheid government of South Africa.

Berlinger's film is a decently constructed recollection and exploration as far as it goes. I felt myself drifting from time to time as the talking heads (South African musicians, engineer Roy Halee, Quincy Jones, friends and flunkies) all seemed to be reading lines from the same script, lines that recalled the elation and excitement of recording Graceland 25 years ago and the delight in everyone getting back together for some new performances, etc. The review of the political climate 25 years ago felt sufficient but rote. A sense of familiarity (we've all seen docs like this before) and orchestration began to gather around me like a shroud. But it played well enough. I stayed with it as much as I could.

The fact is that a factor completely out of left field kept interfering with my concentration. I don't mean to sound cruel or cutting, but the honest truth is that Simon's curious appearance kept messing with my head. He's clearly had work done, and there's something "off" and unnatural about his eyes -- something faintly Asian -- and his face in general, especially the area under his chin. It just doesn't look right, and for this reason I was unable to fully settle into the film. Lord knows we all get older but there's always some kind of rapport between a person's appearance at age 44 or 45 (i.e., Simon's age when Graceland was released) and 70, which Simon turned last October. He just looks oddly different, and this fact keeps competing with the other stuff. The result is an off-balance sensation. I kept telling myself to focus on the creative and spiritual, but it was a battle all the way.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 5, 2012 at 3:12 PM

comment #1

moviesquad says ...

I haven't seen any motion footage of him recently, but in the pics you posted he doesn't look that odd. Still clearly the same guy.

I'd think if he chose to have some plastic surgery, he would've also tightened up that skin under his neck.

Posted by moviesquad at February 5, 2012 4:00 PM

comment #2

raygo says ...

Plus that fact that he's kind of an asshole. Musical legacy aside, the guy has some personality issues.

Posted by raygo at February 5, 2012 4:01 PM

comment #3

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Gifted artists are sometimes assholes. It sometimes goes with the territory. It's certainly never bothered me. My attitude has always been "Art Gods get a pass."

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at February 5, 2012 4:06 PM

comment #4

Orotund Vowel says ...

Also, as one who is older, I can assure you that not all facial freezes and exaggerations are "work." Some of us ugly up a little more weirdly than others for all kinds of disgusting mechanical reasons. However, I concede that since he is an entertainer the smart money bets on the surgical side.

Posted by Orotund Vowel at February 5, 2012 4:18 PM

comment #5

Super Soul says ...

Halee, not Hally.

Famous people acting normal get called assholes for doing so all the time. I was probably an asshole to my wife at the store today, but nobody was recording or commenting on it.

Posted by Super Soul at February 5, 2012 4:25 PM

comment #6

raygo says ...

If Paul Simon's had work done, he's due a refund.

Posted by raygo at February 5, 2012 4:35 PM

comment #7

patches23 says ...

There's lots of youtube video of him performing at the WTC site on 9/11/11 where you can see him up close. I didn't notice anything off, but then I wasn't looking for that.

Posted by patches23 at February 5, 2012 5:03 PM

comment #8

raygo says ...

Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, recounting his band's experience with Mr. Edie Brickell in the studio for the Graceland sessions:

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/04/rhymin-simon-no.html

STEVE BERLIN: Oh, I have plenty of recollections of working on that one.I don't know if you heard the stories, but it was not a pleasant deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally -- and in no way do I exaggerate whenI say -- he stole the songs from us....And you know, going into it, I had an enormous amount of respect for the guy. The early records were amazing, I loved his solo records, and I truly thought he was one of the greatest gifts to American music that there was.

At the time, we were high on the musical food chain. Paul had just come off One Trick Pony and was kind of floundering. People forget, before Graceland, he was viewed as a colossal failure. He was low. So when we were approached to do it, I was a way bigger fan than anybody else in the band. We got approached by Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin who ran our record company [Warner Bros.], and this is the way these guys would talk -- "It would mean a lot to the family if you guys would do this for us." And we thought, "Ok well, it's for the family, so we'll do it." It sounds so unbelievably naive and ridiculous that that would be enough of a reason to go to the studio with him.

We go into the studio, and he had quite literally nothing. I mean, he had no ideas, no concepts, and said, "Well, let's just jam." We said, "We don't really do that." ... Not by accident, not even at soundcheck. We would always just play a song.

Posted by raygo at February 5, 2012 5:17 PM

comment #9

George Prager says ...

I've read that. Paul SImon was a "colossal failure"? That's really rich coming from a one-semi hit wonder band like Los Lobos. Anyway...you know who isn't an asshole? Jon Bon Jovi. Enjoy.

Posted by George Prager at February 5, 2012 5:26 PM

comment #10

Anthony Thorne says ...

Prager, fuck ya. Los Lobos established their music bona fides over and above that one 'hit' years ago. This documentary sounds alright but possibly won't be much of a grabber.

Posted by Anthony Thorne at February 5, 2012 5:56 PM

comment #11

Lord Garth says ...

DId Los Lobos come up with the line about the "cinematographer's party"? Sounds just like them. Sure.

Posted by Lord Garth at February 5, 2012 6:23 PM

comment #12

Ray says ...

"Gifted artists are sometimes assholes."

SHITTY artists are too!

Graceland will forever be known as the album that RUINED Paul Simon. The moment he chose to become INTERESTING is the moment he stopped being interesting..... and his music stopped being anything worth caring about.

I love me some old school Simon, but the air went out of the balloon in Africa....

Posted by Ray at February 5, 2012 6:26 PM

comment #13

Super Soul says ...

I figured that Los Lobos story would come up pretty quickly here. No lawsuit, no settlement (even sought), sounds like two parties with different methods and expectations and enough wiggle room for someone to get pissy afterward. Next we'll hear that Peter Gabriel didn't come up with the horn part for Sledgehammer.

I liked Rhythm of the Saints more than Graceland.

Posted by Super Soul at February 5, 2012 6:39 PM

comment #14

Ray DeRousse says ...

If that picture is representative of how Simon looks like he's had work done, then I'm confused. What work? He has bags under his eyes, jowls, and pasty old man skin. Unless you're talking about a haircut, I don't see it.

Also, Jeff, you seem a bit preoccupied with the physical effects of aging.

Posted by Ray DeRousse at February 5, 2012 6:42 PM

comment #15

Raising_Kaned says ...

Paul Simon is an "art god?"

Anyway, there will be no disgracing the almighty Jon Bon Jovi on this blog -- I simply will not stand for it. The man is an icon of the grand trifecta of hair (mullet), acting (Los Muertos), and music (everything he's done before going "country").

Posted by Raising_Kaned at February 5, 2012 7:40 PM

comment #16

DiscoNap says ...

Simon ditched his hairpiece sometime in the 90s, right? That changes the whole visage a lot. I'm sure he's had some tightening but he looks pretty good. Also this is probably my favorite album of all time.

Posted by DiscoNap at February 5, 2012 10:40 PM

comment #17

Gabe@ThePlaylist says ...

In all the years of listening to Paul Simon music, I have never once given half a shit about what he looks like. As if it fucking matters. Are you guys sure you don't want to head over to the People Magazine forums? Reese Witherspoon has a new haircut.

I once saw Paul Simon come into a studio to give notes to a friend's band. He sat there, and as they played, we kept waiting for him to take notes, to make a gesture, to do anything. He just sat there silently. Near the end of the song, I honestly started to think, huh, Paul Simon seems like kind of a simpleton.

The song ends, and he heads over to the band. He tells the saxophonist, Oh, you were high on the C in the second measure, oh, the guitar part needs an extra note during this portion, etc. Just giving super specific notes on single separate parts of the song to each musician, all the calculations done, and memorized, in his head. Kind of incredible.

Posted by Gabe@ThePlaylist at February 5, 2012 10:57 PM

comment #18

slimer2000 says ...

1: Paul Simon IS an art god. Graceland, the early stuff and some newer stuff is great, but Rhythm of the Saints may be the best album ever.

2: @ Jeff - i felt exactly the same way when seeing him live in 2011 and watching interviews, he really looked frozen and strange. Combined with his movements on stage and his gaze it was sometimes uncanny. I've never seen a 70 year old like him.

3: I Don`t care - see no. 1

Posted by slimer2000 at February 6, 2012 5:20 AM

comment #19