Starring: Christian Bale - Jack Rollins/Pastor John Cate Blanchett - Jude Quinn Marcus Carl Franklin - "Woody Guthrie" Richard Gere - "Billy the Kid" Heath Ledger - Robbie Clark Ben Whishaw - "Arthur Rimbaud" Charlotte Gainsbourg - Claire David Cross - Allen Ginsberg Bruce Greenwood - Keenan Jones/Pat Garrett Julianne Moore - Alice Fabian Michelle Williams - Coco Rivington Kim Gordon - Carla Hendricks Alison Folland - Grace Mark Camacho - Norman Benz Antoine - Bobby Seale/Rabbit Brown Craig Thomas - Huey Newton Eugene Brotto - Peter Orlovsky Richie Havens - Old Man Arvin Kim Roberts - Mrs. Arvin Tyrone Bensin - Mr. Arvin Yolonda Ross - Angela Peter Friedman - Barker/Morris Bernstein Joe Cobden - Sonny Kristen Hager - Mona Fanny La Croix - Actress playing Alice Fabian Dennis St John - Captain Henry/The Admiral Kris Kristofferson - The Narrator
DVD Release Date: 5/6/2008 Running Time: 135 minutes
Rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity
When it comes to the musical world, there are certain iconic figures in the past fifty years that are unforgettable. Their images are etched into the subconscious of pop culture, and anyone—ANYONE—with a more-then-cursory knowledge of popular music has an immediate image that comes to mind when they picture them. There’s Elvis Presley gyrating his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show, John Lennon in is round-rimmed sunglasses, Jim Morrison on the cover of The Doors Greatest Hits, Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar in Monterey Pop. One person who no one would ever deny fits in that list is Bob Dylan. The Minnesota native who’s helped change the face of American music with his contributions in the last five decades is an indelible part of music history, and few people can be shown the cover of the seminal “Blonde on Blonde” without instantly recognizing it. And it is exactly this—the image of Bob Dylan—that writer/director Todd Haynes has thrown on its ear with the unconventional biopic I’m Not There. Taking six different eras of Dylan’s life and casting them with six widely different actors, Haynes creates a film that, while not a totally accurate picture of Dylan’s life is certainly a fascinating one.
The Movie
The film depicts six different interpretations of Dylan. The first is an eleven-year-old African-American scamp who calls himself Woody Guthrie, played by Marcus Carl Franklin. He stows aboard a train with a guitar—the case of which contains Guthrie’s own phrase “This machine kills fascists”—and has escaped from a juvenile correction facility. He sings Dust Bowl songs while being cared for by white Southern liberals, giving a sidelong smile as he has to be reminded that it’s 1959 now, not the Depression. Christian Bale’s tale is that of Jack Rollins, the social-conscious-capturing and tormented folk singer who becomes a face in the Greenwich Village scene of the 60’s. His tale is presented in a documentary form, including an appearance by Julianne Moore as Alice, a fictional representation of folk icon Joan Baez. Rollins walks away from the folk scene, stating "All they wanted from me was finger-pointin' songs." Later in the film, Rollins will turn up again, becoming the born-again “Pastor John” who sings gospel in a small-town church. Rollins, in an odd turn of the movie, is played in a movie by Robbie Clark (Ledger), a hot young method actor. Clark’s story covers Dylan’s failed relationships with Suze Rotolo and Sara Dylan, who are combined into one woman named Claire (Gainesburg). Cate Blanchett gets the meatiest role as she portrays Jude Quinn, the radiant electric 60’s rock Dylan who at the height of his (her?) fame was demonized by old fans as “selling out. Ben Whishaw portrays a young poet, calling himself “Arthur Rimbaud” after the decadent French poet, suffering through a rather rough interrogation about his career. And finally, Richard Gere plays the older Dylan as an elderly Billy the Kid in a strange sort of Wild West town, who faces off with his arch-enemy Pat Garrett (Greenwood).
Haynes is no stranger to experimental film-making or music-based movies. His bizarre first film, 1987’s Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story told the life of 70’s pop vocalist Karen Carpenter, up to and including her death due to anorexia, by the use of modified Barbie dolls. Clearly, this film isn’t quite as surreal, at least superficially. It’s a very unconventional biopic, to be sure, but somehow Haynes is able to weave the stories together into what almost becomes a Dylan-esque song in its own right. By creating wildly divergent fictional characters to portray Dylan in the different periods of his life, Haynes is able to create a series of stories that are as a whole confusing, particularly for individuals who are not very clued into the musician’s life. But each one is transfixing, and in a large part, that has to do with Haynes’s writing, paired with Dylan’s music.
Another part of that has largely to do with the actors cast to play each role. Each of them is amazing in their varied portrayals. Franklin, in what is clearly the most divergent of the roles, explodes with charm and a devil-may-care attitude. And somehow, he manages to evoke the spirit of Dylan, right down to the man’s smile. Whishaw is a bit more familiar (and also good) as “Rimbaud,” though Bale is the one who has the most literal interpretation. Bale, who’s one of the more gifted actors of this generation, is absolutely terrific as Rollins, capturing Dylan in the very essence and nature of the man. Ledger’s performance is very natural, and he does a good job of carrying off what is perhaps the most critical part of Dylan in the film. And Gere is, in what is the least sensical part of the movie, completely solid in another role that, along with last year’s The Hunting Party and The Hoax, reminds us that the man is a great actor. Of course, much of the accolades around the acting have gone to Cate Blanchett, and deservedly so. Blanchett’s portrayal of Jude is incredible, and she gives a twitchy, intense performance that draws you in. One of the most ironic parts of the film is that the best portrayal of Dylan is done by a woman, and done unbelievably well.
One thing to make clear: I’m Not There is not a movie for everyone. The less of a fan you are of Dylan—or at least, the less you know about him—the less you’ll understand many of the movie’s allusions. Obviously, it won’t make sense to a lot of people why young Dylan is portrayed by an African-American who’s taken the name of a folk hero. For those that know that Dylan had a tendency at one time to make up stories about his childhood, this makes more sense. The Billy the Kid segment is another bit that doesn’t seem to make any sense, until you remember that Dylan journey into seclusion after his 1967 motorcycle accident. There are many allusions to Dylan’s life and work sprinkled about the film, and it would take a true Dylan scholar—one better then I—to point them all out and tell their significance.
In the end, I’m Not There is less a biopic then it is a character study of a man and, particularly, his legend. While not everything works, and it’s not a piece that everyone will enjoy, it’s certainly one of the most imaginative and interesting movies that came out in 2007.
Film Rating: 8.0
Technical Aspects
Todd Haynes gave I’m Not There, much like he did his last film Far From Heaven, a very stylistic look. The Jude segment is a grainy black-and-white; the Billy the Kid portion earthy-colored and somewhat worn. The Robbie Clark is done in a 70’s style of filming. All of these, plus the others, come out beautifully in the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Of equal importance is the sound—this is a music-based film, after all. The 5.1 Surround is nicely done, and all of the songs and sounds come in nicely.
Technical Rating: 9.0
Special Features
Being a two-disc release, you would expect that this DVD has some decent features, and you’re not disappointed. One thing that is a nice touch is, as well as the standard scene selection, you’re given a “song selection,” which will take you to one of the many Dylan songs in the movie. There’s also a subtitle track specifically for the lyrics, which is another nice touch.
Commentary Track: The commentary track is done by writer/director Haynes, and the easiest thing that can be taken from it is the man’s appreciation of Dylan. He goes into a grand level of depth about the movie, and this goes beyond the standard commentary tracks that people tend to provide, and it goes a long way toward answering questions for the less-knowledgeable Dylan fans about the film.
Dylanology: If you ever thought you didn’t know enough about Dylan or this movie, check this out, because it’s about everything you’ll ever want to know. All in text or still form, there’s an interview with Haynes, galleries, introductions of the characters, and more.
Tribute to Heath Ledger: About three minutes long, this is a memorial in footage to the actor, who of course sadly passed this year.
Deleted/Extended Scenes: There’s about nineteen minutes here, and while it’s mostly all good stuff, it’s difficult to appreciate on its own. The film is simply too chaotic to look at individual scenes and understand how they would fit into the whole.
Making the Soundtrack: A nice little featurette with some interesting points made, and a chance to hear some great Dylan pieces all over again.
Auditions: The audition tapes of Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw are included. Always fun to watch.
The Red Carpet Premiere: About what you’d expect from the title, this is a three-minute featurette about the films premiere in New York. I never find these interesting, and this is no exception.
Special Features Rating: 7.0
The 411: A lot of people won't like I'm Not There, considering it too bizarre for a biopic, or too chaotic, or simply not making any sense. In that, however, is where the movie succeeds. It's as unconventional as its subject and his music, and does an expert job of looking at Dylan from many different aspects. The acting is absolutely top-notch, particularly Bale's performance as Jack Rollins and of course Blanchett's hypnotic turn as Jude. The special features aren't quite up to the quality of the film, but they provide the context and explanation needed for Dylan neophytes, and that's all it needs to do. While it's not perfect, neither is it's subject, and in fitting Dylan, it does the job beautifully.
