Paul McCartney reflects on life beyond the Beatles at ‘Man on the Run’ screening hosted by Brown

Neville, whose work explores the inner lives of cultural figures from backup singers to Fred Rogers, approached the project with a guiding principle rooted in music itself. Before assembling the film, he began by constructing what he described as a "soundtrack" of McCartney's post-Beatles songs, using them as a narrative blueprint.

"The great thing about making a film about a songwriter is their songs," Neville said. "The songs tell you that they need to be there, because he's narrating some part of his life through them."

That approach shaped the structure and emotional arc of "Man on the Run." The result is a peek into a life propelled by a sense of restlessness, insatiable creativity, exploration, and forward motion. Despite setbacks that could have discouraged others - a bizarre television special, a handful of commercial flops and an infamous international arrest - McCartney pressed on.

For McCartney, watching this period if his life unfold on screen isn't without discomfort.

"There were bits of it that got embarrassing, where I thought, maybe we should take those out, because I'm going to be sitting there squirming like I was tonight," McCartney said, laughing.

"It's part of the journey," Neville said. "Failure is how you learn, too. Even things that seem like failure at the time redefine themselves over time."

The documentary focuses on the era of McCartney's life following his creative partnership with John Lennon that produced some of the most influential music in history, redefining the potential of pop songwriting. When the Beatles disbanded in 1970, McCartney entered a period of uncertainty and vulnerability. Amid a media storm that blamed him for the band's breakup, along with swirling speculation that "Paul is dead," McCartney traded Abbey Road for the unpaved paths of rural Scotland. There, he raised sheep - and children - and eventually formed Wings.

Throughout the 1970s, McCartney faced intense pressure to replicate what had come before. Instead, he became "remarkably uncool," according to critics at the time. But it was no matter to McCartney. In both the film and on stage in Providence on Monday night, McCartney returned to the personal peace he found in his family. His time in Scotland provided a counterbalance to the volatility of Beatles-era fame, in which there "was no grounding," McCartney said.

Watching footage of Linda McCartney, who died in 1998, was among the most difficult aspects of working on the film, McCartney said.

"You know, we've lost people in this film, particularly Linda, and so it was very hard - and at the same time glorious - to see her and to see her humor," he said.

Equally emotional were the film's portrayals of McCartney's relationship with Lennon. Long defined in the public imagination by a bitter rivalry, their partnership is presented in "Man on the Run" with more complexity and gentleness.

"Particularly with John, it was such a battle for so many moments, but in the end [Neville] - very sweetly, I thought - put in the fact that we really loved each other, and that made it so much better for me," McCartney said.

That portrayal was shaped, in part, by contributions from Lennon's son, Sean Ono Lennon, whose reflections added another layer of perspective.

"It was great to hear him speak so lovingly of me and his dad, and he gets it right," McCartney said. "What's interesting is that, even though he never saw us together much, he sensed the truth."

As the conversation drew to a close, attention turned to a question that lingers beyond the film itself: What continues to drive McCartney, many decades into a career that has, at multiple points, placed him as the most successful artist of his time?

To Neville, it's curiosity.

"Curiosity as a creative person is huge," he said. "I remember we talked about all this music you were listening to, all this art you were looking at, how they were all part of the same kind of creative impulse."

To McCartney, it's simply "great fun."

"If I didn't do it as a job, I would do it as a hobby, because it's just in me," McCartney said. "There's something magical in any art form about discovering 'that thing.' It might be a chord in music, or a color combination in painting. In science, maybe it's some little discovery, the eureka moment - it's just so exciting, and it never gets boring."