With her lean, androgynous looks and tribal-stomp mix of spoken word/singing, poet punk Patti Smith influenced a generation of musicians, beginning with her 1975 debut, "Horses." Not content with the art house crowd, she also flirted with the mainstream, collaborating with groups like Blue Oyster Cult and that other street poet, Bruce Springsteen (their song, "Because the Night," made the Top 20 in 1978), as well as William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Shepard, Bob Dylan and Michael Stipe. Smith's life and enduring career have been documented by noted fashion photographer Steven Sebring in the PBS "Point Of View" special, "Patti Smith: Dream of Life." Shot over a remarkable 11 years, the ethereal film is narrated by Smith herself and comes off not so much as a movie but an impressionistic painting in its own right.
"Dream of Life" debuts 10 p.m.Wednesday, Dec. 30 on WMFE Ch. 24.
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