Brian Wilson Biopic: "Love and Mercy"

Above, the plaque on the Beach Boys monument in Hawthorne, California. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A biopic on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys met with high praise, even from Brian himself, at the Toronto International Film Festival.

According to Japan Today:

TORONTO —The two actors who portray Beach Boy Brian Wilson in a film about his troubled life say getting a deeper knowledge of the revered Californian songwriter’s music helped their performances nearly as much spending time with the man himself. 

“Love and Mercy,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, stars Paul Dano and John Cusack as younger and older versions of Wilson, cutting between his creative peak in the 1960s and painful recovery from mental illness, addiction and abuse two decades later. 

Wilson’s turbulent life is already the stuff of music industry legend. He shot to fame in the early 1960s as the lead songwriter for the Beach Boys, producing hits like “Surfer Girl” that became the soundtrack for an era. 

Yet Wilson’s ambitions ran deeper. Enthralled by the complexity of the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul,” he set out to top them. “Love and Mercy” depicts the production of his landmark “Pet Sounds,” one of the most highly regarded albums in rock history.

Above, the Beach Boys monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Most of the members of the Beach Boys came from my alma mater, Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, California. The band played at the Senior Prom in 1969 during my tenure at the school (I was in my freshman year

at the time).

I attended a Beach Boys concert on New Year's Eve in 1980 at the Forum in Inglewood, California. At the time Brian was still in his troubled period and essentially wandered around the stage or just sat at a grand piano. It is amazing that he outlived his brothers Carl and Dennis. Carl died of cancer and Dennis died by drowning.

Above, a little closer view of the Beach Boys monument sculpture. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A monument has been erected near where Wilson's Hawthorne home once stood (it was removed for the construction of the Glenn Anderson Freeway (commonly known as the Century Freeway).

Wilson was an honoree at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.

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