Paul Simon: Under African Skies (2012)

UNDER African SKIES may be one of the best "making of" ever made. There are many other elements that certainly make it something more than just a "making of", but in essence it's just that, a look at how Paul Simon's classic album "Graceland" was created. In fact, the project began as many others: to celebrate a special anniversary of the record, the number 25, with a concert. To begin, and if we think only in the musical stuff, the fact that every key musician in the realization of "Graceland" are still alive and could be localized for the first reunion in years with Simon give a whole lot more value to the celebration idea. So, director Joe Berlinger went to South Africa to capture this reunion of Simon and the African musicians, their rehearsals and finally the anniversary concert (celebrated in Johannesburg). Is a real joy to see these musicians together, and you don't really have to know "Graceland" or any other Paul Simon record for that matter. Soon you'll get the essence of the record, you'll know its origins, the composition process (of both the music and the lyrics), the recording process, personal experiences of the people involved, and mostly the context. If as a "making of" this is a very rich work, as a documentary on the apartheid is even more. I don't think I'm the only one who some months ago came out from the theater thinking that Bob Marley has been socially the most important musician ever. In the documentary MARLEY (Kevin Macdonald, 2012) we see a couple of issues that in specific show the power of music – Marley provoking a peaceful encounter between two rival politicians in Jamaica, and his visit to Zimbabwe during the independence celebration. There's no doubt UNDER African SKIES achieves its main goal and exposes how important was "Graceland" for a South African society that was devastated by the apartheid. The interesting thing can be observed with the little big differences between Paul Simon and someone like Marley. A year prior to the independence of Zimbabwe, Marley wrote a superb anti-colonization piece, simply titled "Zimbabwe". Simon, on the other hand, was never interested in political subjects and the only reason why he traveled to South Africa was the huge love he had for African music. So the interesting is that the admirable conviction of Simon to make music with the Africans didn't mean anything but the liberation of a nation that suffered its government and the international boycott too. Simon's message was almost involuntary but just as important as the ones of people like Marley. The richness of this documentary can be summarized with a couple of situations that involves the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. One is just a musical gem, and the other makes us think; but both are about discovering and emotion. For our delight, two members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo take us to their first musical encounter with Simon, the preparation of the "Graceland" tune "Homeless". The other situation is something we will never fully understand: what did the South African musicians feel when they leaved their country to see the "free" world, walk in the streets of Manhattan, enter the Saturday Night Live studio? UNDER African SKIES shows a battle for art, for the freedom of its creators and the need to keep it independent of any political force, all with a controversial but mostly just fascinating soundtrack. *Watched it on 16 February, 2013

This is the morning after my watching Under African Skies, the documentary movie on Paul Simon and the artists he collaborated with for the Graceland record, some of whom were part of the group Artists Against Apartheid. They jammed, recorded, and later toured with the music that joined white and black cultures in a time where these were in the thick of aggression in South Africa. Simon travelled to where the roots of rhythm were to be found, joining his poetic lyrics to his fellow's music, with their indescribable vividness and rawness, blending African lyrics like "If there is no chicken/You can hunt an owl,/Take its head off and/It looks like a chicken./We eat it on the train" with "she's got diamonds on the soles of her shoes..." He was in South Africa during the culmination of Apartheid, before Nelson Mandela was released from jail. Graceland took two years to make after his ten-day visit to the country. Three weeks after its successful release, it received its first and totally unexpected criticism. It came from the ANC, stating that Simon had extracted and promoted music from South Africa thus breaching the UN decree to boycott the country in all international acts, which was upheld as a last-resort effort against the Apartheid regime. Together with his musical companions Simon had given the world a gem, as some of the best South African musicians joined hands, and voices, and hearts with him to record and tour. Together they created a pure sensation. The listening world received a key of access that would give the battered country a focus of attention under a positive light while, throughout the disastrous regime, many had hopelessly ignored it. They toured in America, Europe, Africa, always under the threat of political aggression connected to reactions to the claims made by the ANC. From another front they were backed by the collaboration of artists like Miriam Makeba, to whose life the film was dedicated. Makeba was one of the many exiled from their homeland, not even being granted permission to attend her own daughter's funeral. The segregation and violence regime robbed South Africans of their land, their integrity, their freedom. The musicians of Graceland, those wizards of groove and soul, gave everything they had to share and contributed to its termination. When Mandela was finally released from jail he personally welcomed Simon to perform Graceland in his country. The film was documented as Simon reunited with the South African musicians of Graceland, 25 years after its initial release, in celebration.

This documentary celebrates the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's great Graceland' album. At the same time it questions Simon's political choices in going to South Africa to record during the U.N. approved cultural boycott, seeking to keep South Africa isolated and thus put more pressure on the white regime to step down. Simon's reply is that artists shouldn't be subject to arbitrary political decisions - they must follow their heart and muse first, and he did more to help raise awareness of South Africa by going than by staying away. The film doesn't take clear sides on these questions and that's fine, a documentary doesn't have to take sides on such a morally complex issue to be successful. But there is something a bit slippery in Simon's somewhat pat answers that seem to be given a pass. And a meeting between Simon and Dali Tambo, the South African head of Artists Against Apartheid' feels awkward and staged, each man explaining to the other their point of view on what happened, ending with what felt like a very forced forgiveness hug. Is the film letting Simon off too easily? Or is his very awkwardness Berlinger's point? (even his embraces of the musicians who played with him on the album feel like they might not have happened is there wasn't a camera rolling) . One telling detail, the fact that Simon took first credit on all the music, even though – as we hear some of the original pre-Simon instrumentals from the album – we realize that many of the songs are almost identical, just somewhat re-arranged by Simon. Taking first writing credit seems like an act of hubris that the film never mentions or questions.

Under African Skies rises above the standard music documentary to celebrate an iconic artist and/or album. In this case, it is set against the controversy about working with South African artists in a time when there was a UN cultural boycott against South Africa. What is shown in this documentary is how the iconic Graceland album (released in 1986) came about and most importantly: how the tracks were created. Defying and defending the free spirit of an artist, Paul Simon, who is above all a musician and not a politician, brought his fascination and respect for South African talented musicians (Ray Phiri, Ladysmith Black Mambazo) to the world via this album. Old footage is interspersed with newly shot material of Paul Simon's visit, 25 years since he first set foot in South Africa, and playing again with these same musicians. Warning: it is not possible to view this documentary without humming, singing and dancing along with the songs : )