Movie Title: I’m Not There
Actors: Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Marcus Karl Franklin, Heath Ledger
Director: Todd Haynes
Studio: Killer Films
Run Time: 135 min
Movie Description
Unapologetically audacious, I’m Not There is more post-modern puzzle than by-the-numbers biopic. A title card sets the scene: “Inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan.” Yet the film features no figure by that name. Instead, writer/director Todd Haynes presents six characters, each incarnating different stages in the artist’s career. Perfume’s Ben Whishaw, a black-clad poet, serves as a slippery sort of narrator. The action begins with the wanderings of an 11-year-old black runaway named “Woody Guthrie” (Marcus Carl Franklin)–his raucous duet with Richie Havens on “Tombstone Blues” is a highlight–and ends with a silver-haired Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) watching the Old West die before his eyes. In the interim, there’s the folk singer-turned-preacher (Christian Bale), the actor (Heath Ledger), and the rock star (Cate Blanchett, who has Don’t Look Back Dylan down to a science). The chronology is purposefully non-linear, and editor Jay Rabinowitz cuts rapidly, Jean-Luc Godard-style, between cin?ma v?rit? black-and-white and saturated color, Richard Lester-like slapstick and Fellini-inspired surrealism (Ed Lachman served as cinematographer).
What makes the picture fun for Dylan fans–and potentially frustrating for neophytes–is that every album and movie bears an alternate title. Ledger’s Robbie, for instance, stars in “Grain of Sand,” actually a reference to the Pete Seeger song. As in Haynes’ glam rock reverie Velvet Goldmine, the trickery involves the entire cast. While Julianne Moore plays former lover Alice, a dead ringer for Joan Baez; Michelle Williams embodies elusive scenester Coco, i.e. Edie Sedgwick. If I’m Not There is less affecting than Control, the year’s other big music film, it rewards repeat viewings like few biographical features. The soundtrack mixes originals with covers, like Jim James’s heartfelt “Goin’ to Acapulco.” –Kathleen C. Fennessy
Movie Review
As an individual with a noted Dylan obsession I was fascinated by this film. Every moment on screen is so meticulously constructed to reference so many events, aspects, and subtleties the film could easily be analyzed a hundred times over and not be completely checked through. This film seeks to and without a doubt accomplishes the essence of Dylan and his work not only in content but also by its means. I’m Not There is as much about being Dylan-esque as Dylan himself is, and therein perhaps lies the mystique of the piece itself, much like the man it portrays, ever changing. For some people this will translate to pretentious filmic wandering. Others of us will be revisiting this masterful film for the rest of our lives. Spectacular, a visual puzzle like never before. –By Allen White
Plot Outline
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician’s life and work.
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