Dan Rockwood here with another report on cinema available now at the cinema getting place. You will be interested to learn I just saw a major motion picture titled I’m Not There.
The titular absence refers to one Robert “Bob Dylan” Zimmerman a popular entertainer of some note. In his place is not one but five or six (depending on how you count) actors all playing different aspects (or something artsy like that) of the same dylanesque character. Here’s the run down of how that worked out: Cate Blanchet does the impersonation part the best which is weird cause she’s a woman; Ben Whishaw was my favorite but gets the least amount of screen time; Marcus “The Black Kid” Carl Franklin has three first names and was great; I don’t know what to think about Richard Gere unless his footage was part of a different movie that got edited in on accident; Heath Ledger is in the movie but I regrettably don’t have an accolade for him; and Christian Bale does the best musical numbers.
The truth is I wasn’t prepared for the movie I was walking into. I was expecting Todd Solondz’s Palindromes but that is not this film at all. I didn’t know that each of the actors played Dylan under a different pseudo name, or that most of the movie was Bob Dylan fan fiction and fantasy with true life parts mixed in. I didn’t know that sometimes it was shot like a documentary but other times not at all. And I definitely didn’t expect part of the movie to take place in THE PAST. This is spastic film gyrating from sincere character study to musical numbers (I would classify this film as a musical) to art film biopic (By – AHH -pic). Moments of emotional intensity butt into slapstick comedy like when gravy spills onto the cranberry sauce. Sometimes the movie comes off as a parody of 1960’s art movies and other times it seems fed up with it’s own air of pretentiousness. Just like in Don’t Look Back, Dylan often comes across as a self important prick; like someone who stays up all night thinking up esoteric phrases to sputter in the heat of the moment, in a haughty attempt to choreograph zen aloofness. If someone said they hated this movie I could sympathize.
By which I mean to say I like this movie; on account that the characters interested me, there were fun cameos (look for David Cross playing someone familiar), the movie’s knack for matching the perfect song to the perfect moment, and cinematicly it’s one of the most beautiful films of the year. There’s at least one scene that’s an instant classic for me: One of the Dylan’s is preaching in a dingy church rec center in front of a congregation of about fifteen people and then he breaks out into over wrought Jesus music that would be totally cheesy if not for the authentic humility of it all.
I’m a decent Bob Dylan fan, in so far as all the songs in the movie were songs I’m familiar with and enjoy. But I still felt left out by the movie, like there was a joke I missed out on or a personal investment to the subject which were I to poses would tie the whole thing together. What we’re left with is a riddle; five performances that don’t fit together or add up to one person. And if this movie has a point maybe that’s the point. That no mere film can cover the sum of anyone’s life. That none of us are one person but an array of personalities all vying for the spot light.
Popularity: 92% [?]
I’m pretty sure this was a great movie, though I do need to go back and re-watch it. I don’t really understand your confusion about the number of characters. Also, I have read this opinion on the misplacement of the Richard Gere section elsewhere, but to me it was vital. It brings in the sad, underground forgotten folklore found throughout Dylan’s career, from start to now, prevalent most notably in The Basement Tapes and his late 80’s to current output. I’m Not There may not necessarily be a classic, but it does deserve attention for breaking the mold of lazy, un-original biopics in the vein of Ray and I Walk The Line.
I really wouldn’t say I was at all confused, maybe surprised. I wasn’t expecting the different story lines to be so disparate. They felt like different characters which I think was intentional.
“it does deserve attention for breaking the mold of lazy, un-original biopics in the vein of Ray and I Walk The Line.”
It’s funny because I meant something along these lines in my review. I said literally word for word the same thing while I was discussing FACTORY GIRL. I think it’s true of FACTORY GIRL and a I think it’s true of I’M NOT THERE.
I appreciate your imput on the film because like I said I think I’m missing a familiarity with Dylan that would’ve tied the whole thing together for me. When you talk about Richard Gere as Billy The Kid being vital, I wish I felt that way.