Pop Odyssee 1 - Die Beach Boys und der Satan

The Beach Boys and Satan (1997)

*** (out of 4)

The title of this German documentary makes it seem a lot more macabre than it actually is. The documentary basically talks about The Beach Boys and their success during the 1960s with the main focus being on Brian Wilson and how he came up with albums like Pet Sounds and Smile. The documentary features interviews with Wilson as well as people like Kenneth Anger, Dick Dale, Jonathan Gilmore, David Thomas and Don Was.

The title refers to Charles Manson and his brief involvement with Dennis Wilson and the downfall of the hippie generation is discussed but this here takes up very little of the 60 minute running time. Fans of The Beach Boys and Wilson will certainly want to check this out as there's all sorts of excellent concert and video footage of the band and there's no doubt that the interview with Wilson is very entertaining. There's even some brief footage of a birthday party for Wilson with Paul McCartney. The documentary at times is a bit uneven but for the most part it's highly entertaining and features the original music, which is another plus.

Archival footage, the Beach Boys music and 1997 interview soundbites, make an interesting look at Brian Wilson and his creative process. We get some history of the music scene and what was going on in society at the time.

The well-known connection to Charles Manson feels like it's brought in as pure exploitation. It's another of those cheezy attempts to show some connection or inevitability of a progression from the counterculture to evil. Fortunately that's only a small part of the film at the end. It's worth watching for the historical Beach Boys footage, the interviews with Brian Wilson, and musicians and producers who were around the Beach Boys back when.