I'm Not There

 

 

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If you're expecting an ordinary biopic with a straightforward story line, you will certainly be baffled by this film, as the previous two reviewers demonstrate. And if you're a Dylan fan looking for "rarities" or arcane information about him, you may also be disappointed -- although there are quite a few factual revelations here, especially in the director's commentary track, for those who (like me) are not collectors of Dylan trivia and haven't researched Dylan's life and work as deeply as Todd Haynes and his collaborators.

But if you have actually reflected on the lyrics of his songs since 1964, and especially on his drive to reinvent himself while eluding public scrutiny, then you may find this film deeply moving and illuminating. I certainly did, although i was expecting a playful exercise in stunt casting. The element of play is there, just as in the lyrics of so many Dylan songs, and the same goes for the dreamlike logic of the narrative. But behind it all lurks a sobering sense of the inevitable clash between reality and personality, and that is the focus of the film.

The acting, direction, camera work and production design are uniformly excellent. Cate Blanchett's performance stands out for those who have seen documentary footage of Dylan, because she's the only one who actually looks, moves and sounds like him (that is, like his 1965-6 incarnation). In fact the resemblance is uncanny. The other five faces of Dylan (played by Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw as "Arthur Rimbaud") are equally effective in representing the diversity wrapped up in Dylan's life and legend. Charlotte Gainsbourg also stands out as the woman in his life; David Cross as Allen Ginsberg and Bruce Greenwood as "Mr. Jones" are also superb. Even the extras deliver good performances, as Haynes mentions several times in his commentary.

And then there's the music, which varies from all-time Dylan favorites to the previously unreleased song which furnishes the title. The soundtrack includes many songs and/or performances i'd never heard before. Some of the performances are archival and some created for this film, and the quality of those almost matches those in the Beatles-homage film "Across the Universe". Every song takes on a new significance in the context of this film. I would give it four stars for that alone, and another for its penetration into the darker depths of the human condition. You don't have to be a Dylan fan or a genius to get the point. But you do have to pay attention, and probably more than once.

Unfolding like a surreal dream, Haynes' Daliesque biopic of Bob Dylan paints a masterpiece that reveals only impressions of the man's life. Beautiful and visionary, Haynes divides Dylan's lives into six parts to which he assigns fictional (though obviously metaphorical) names: "Woody" (Marcus Carl Franklin), a black kid hitching a ride across the country with a machine that kills fascists, lying about his origins to the bums he meets; Jack Rollins (Christian Bale), the protest singer of the early sixties, who becomes disenchanted with "the cause"; Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw), who appears only in front of a sort of tribunal and echoes Dylan's symbolist influences along with his notorious refusal to classify himself or answer a straight question; Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett), the plugged-in Dylan of the mid-sixties, who we see touring England and hounded by Bruce Greenwood's Mr. Jones; Robbie Clark (Heath Ledger), the unfaithful family man married to Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg); and Billy the Kid (Richard Gere), who lives a rural existence outside of Riddle, Missouri. The segments weave in and out of each other, though are roughly chronological, with a considerable number of flashbacks. The standout sequences are Blanchett's, in black and white, echoing Pennebaker's documentary Don't Look Back, and those with a middle-aged Billy the Kid in rural Missouri, which evokes the characters and themes of both Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and The Basement Tapes (we meet Homer, Mrs. Henry, and other citizens of Dylan and the Band's basement imaginations, from what Greil Marcus calls the "old, weird America"). Watch for the ostrich and the giraffe (of the non-flammable variety), not to mention the bandstand orchestra doing a "Going to Acapulco." The music is a mish-mash of Dylan himself and covers by Richie Havens, John Doe of X fame, Sonic Youth, Eddie Vedder, and a few others. It was filmed in and around Montreal, with a number of Canadians in minor roles.

I suppose the movie would be great for hardcore Dylan fans. I can't say I'm one of them, though I certainly do appreciate Dylan's gargantuan place in folk/ rock/ popular music history.

Far and away I enjoyed Cate Blanchett's performance as the mid-60's "Blonde on Blonde" era Dylan. I imagine it was because she so uncannily captured his mannerisms, look and even voice - just amazing. The others actors all do a good job certainly, but of course do not (and are not intended to) actually physically resemble Dylan. So I was actually a little surprised at Blanchett's part in the movie, since she so thoroughly resembles Dylan and is the only one who does.

I appreciate where Todd Haynes was looking to take this film, but I for one felt that the energy petered out about halfway through, or it could have been that I just lost interest, I'm not sure.

Worth seeing if only for Blanchett's fabulous contribution.

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3.0 out of 5 stars It could of been better!
I think this movie has a good story and it is nice and interesting to watch the point of view and life opinion of the unordinary Mr. Read more

Published on Nov 8 2008 by Lewis Cruise

1.0 out of 5 stars Confused Mess
Cate Blanchett's performance is the only redeeming thing about this movie. I love Dylan, but I found myself nodding off about 30 minutes into the film. Read more

Published on May 19 2008 by Zione

1.0 out of 5 stars NO MORE!
There was a time in the sixties when I used to gobble down anything they trew at me, even sitar music, just as long as it was cool, NO MORE! Read more

Published on May 10 2008 by Robert Thivierge

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