Movie Review: I'm Not There
I'm not there, a movie from writer-director Todd Haynes, is a story about different stages and faces of Bob Dylan. The movie opened November 21st
and is in limited release for a reason - it will not appeal to a mass audience. If you are a fan of Dylan's music or have a keen interest in the 60s, this movie is for you.
I am not trying to belittle it in any way - though at times I was bored during this 2 hour 15 minute poetic piece, I stayed captivated by the pieces of history thrown together to make this movie.
And Cate Blanchett was the most captivating of them all. She played Dylan the Rebel. This role is Oscar-worthy. She played Dylan with such sincerity — she got the vibe, the manners, the
voice, the walk, even the hands right on. It's one of the most amazing roles I′ve seen her do.
She was not the only Dylan in the movie - in fact, the story was pieced together by many personalities, each played by a different actor, not always resembling the exact look of Dylan. But exactness was not the point here - it's more about telling the story of his life, yesterday, today and tomorrow all thrown in one room. As he said in a rare interview - I am just a storyteller. Dylan has never been a fan of interviews and the fact that he gave OK to this movie makes me think it was somewhat biographical.
Many pieces in this story are fiction: The young Bob Dylan did not travel aboard the boxcars with hobos. He didn't work in a circus. These were fabricated stories he told while paying his dues as a Greenwich Village folk singer. Dylan tried to cover up his true history. His real name was Robert Allen Zimmerman and he was raised by a middle-class family in Duluth, Minnesota. Fans didn′t storm the stage the legendary Royal Albert Hall performance in 1966 and stop the show after the Judas shouts. In fact, only one person shouted Judas, and then Dylan said you're a liar and jammed right into Like a Rolling Stone. When he went electric at Newport in 1965, much of the audience was displeased and some boos could be heard in the crowd. But this movie exaggerates it. The atmosphere wasn't so chaotic. How do I know this? I've seen the recent DVD The Other Side of the Mirror which is footage of the actual show as directed by Murray Lerner. I also personally know someone who went to that concert in 1965.
Again, this is not a documentary. It gives you a vibe of what Dylan's life was like and offers a glimpse into some of his faces and realities. Heath Ledger played Robbie during the tough, romantic period involving his divorce from Claire (supposedly Sara), deeply portrayed by a British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. This particular period was the inspiration for Dylan's great 1975 album Blood on the Tracks. Christian Bale did an impressive character study from two periods of Dylan′s life, early folk years and the born-again Bob.
I'm Not There is about more than Bob Dylan. It's a look at his friends, like The Beatles, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez, etc. It is also about his enemies. The same actor who played the British journalist revealing Dylan's real name on TV is the same actor (under good disguise) who played Billy the Kid's murderer. In this lonesome stage, Richard Gere took on the part of the outcast Dylan, realizing he can′t run away from telling the truth.
The title is a giveaway - Dylan was not trying to be anything or anyone, he was not even interested in analyzing himself, or for that sake, anyone else. He is a visionary, so he is never really there, but looking into the next stage.
Get the I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)