teven Sebring's DREAM OF LIFE gathers about 10 recent years' worth of footage of rock icon Patti Smith: in performance, lolling on Baudelaire's grave, protesting the war in Iraq, strolling Coney Island with her children, jamming on acoustic guitars with old friend and former lover Sam Shepard, and chatting openly to the camera without a trace of self-consciousness. The absence of portentous voiceovers or 'talking heads' underscores the intimacy and humble quality of the production, although the plethora of cameo shots of members of rock royalty indicates the wide-ranging influence Smith has had since the mid-1970s.
PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE is a celebration of the redemptive power of song and poetry, of being awake to the beauty all around, and it is a tonic for the soul.