Patti Smith's Dream of Life

Last night- Patti Smith doc at Film Forum with Kirsten. The doc is good, but probably only for hard core Patti fans. Very forward looking, very much what she’s doing now. No archival footage of CB’s, no seventies footage of “Radio Ethiopia.” Nothing like that.

There is a gorgeous scene of her and Sam Shepherd fooling around on guitars for the camera. It’s touching and lovely – there is still this spark of passion between the two of them from forty years ago, and now the two of them are towering figures in their own fields. They are so lovely, so unassuming. He refers to a small tattoo near his thumb, and the only comment from both is – “Yeah. That was a really crazy night at the Chelsea.”

The film is shot beautifully – the guy who made it is a fashion photographer, and spent ten years filming it in between gigs. What’s interesting about her is how she has aged. She was never a model but there was always something beautiful and otherworldly about her. Now she’s a woman close to 60 and she makes no attempt to disguise that. And yet when her face breaks into a smile at times, you see everything – the young girl and the older woman at the same time. I don’t know that any rock star – certainly any female rock star - has allowed themselves to age right in front of their audience, and somehow turned it to advantage.