I am, by no means, a Dylan expert. I am a fan, but a very casual fan, who feels like I should be more of a serious fan, but, in all honesty, I am not. I only own one Bob Dylan album, which I bought after seeing this movie. I haven't read his autobiography, seen the documentaries about him or paid him much attention at all. However, his name (first name only, usually) has always been spoken with reverence, of a sort, in my circles. Even the goth ones. "You gonna play some Bob?" "Yeah." "Right on." His name alone strikes a chord of respect from pretty much everyone I know. He was the namesake of all three of the dogs we owned in the commune. Thanks to my folks, he was part of the soundtrack of my youth and from that I know his songs like I know Bob Denver and James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Simon and Garfunkel - inside and out. All lyrics, all melodies familiar and nostalgic. These are all reasons why I wanted to see this movie.
Because I had no information about him to base any notions on, I was pulled into Haynes kaleidescope of truth and perception (though I had no idea which was which) and awed by the cinematic risks he took. Using six vastly different actors to play Dylan was brave. Using (the mind-blowingly talented) Cate Blanchett to play one of them was genius. She said she put a sock in her pants to help her walk like a man, but her voice was what blew me away. And her mannerisms and her gestures...not that I have anything based in reality to compare them to, but I was completely convinced, enthralled and impressed.
I don't know how to wrap this up. I simply loved this film. I guess I'll just close with one of my favorite lyrics.
Still I wish there was somethin' you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin' anyway
So don't think twice, it's all right
Because I had no information about him to base any notions on, I was pulled into Haynes kaleidescope of truth and perception (though I had no idea which was which) and awed by the cinematic risks he took. Using six vastly different actors to play Dylan was brave. Using (the mind-blowingly talented) Cate Blanchett to play one of them was genius. She said she put a sock in her pants to help her walk like a man, but her voice was what blew me away. And her mannerisms and her gestures...not that I have anything based in reality to compare them to, but I was completely convinced, enthralled and impressed.
1 comment:
There is so much to day about this movie! I don't know much about Bob's life either, but in one sense I'm glad about that. Because I don't think this was a movie about Bob Dylan, and expecting it to be may throw you off. This movie is about the idea of Bob Dylan, and how he confounded that idea (or ideas) and inevitably rebelled against them. Who Bob actually is becomes less important with this in mind, just as who he really was becomes less important in the face of all of the unrealistic expectations placed on him.
Since this is a movie about ideas, how better to express those ideas then surrealist montages? How a young man can become such a phenomenon in so short a time in our culture is pretty surreal too, I don’t think this movie could have portrayed this any better.
I could go on and on so I should cut myself off. It was just such a good movie! Truly one of my favorites released in 2007.
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