Review of I'm Not There (2007) by Patrick F — 23 Mar 2011

Iâ(TM)m Not There is an unconventional biopic written and directed by Todd Haynes about the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. It features six different actors portraying the many different personas of Dylan. Marcus Carl Franklin, an African American, plays the young Dylan, a tramp who ran away from Minnesota and passed himself off as the second coming of folk singer Woody Guthrie, a singer that obviously influenced Dylanâ(TM)s music. This part of the story reflects the fictitious autobiographies that he created during this time to establish himself as an artist. Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a portrayal of Dylan during his early acoustic period when he released The Freewheelinâ(TM) Bob Dylan and The Times They Are a-Changinâ(TM). Heath Ledger plays Robbie Clark, an actor who portrays Jack Rollins in a biopic and eventually becomes just as famous as the man he portrays. This part of the film reflects Dylanâ(TM)s own personal life as he goes through a romance and a marriage. The person he is married to is an obvious representation of Sara Dylan. Cate Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, a portrayal of Dylan in 1965-1966 when he controversially went off to England to play the Newport Folk Festival where he was met with a crowd of boos because he had âconformedâ? to going electric; this phase of his career was famously documented by filmmaker D.A. Pennebacker for his documentary Donâ(TM)t Look Back. Richard Gere plays âBilly the Kid.â? Billy refers to the Sam Peckinpah western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid that Dylan had starred in (although he didnâ(TM)t actually play Billy the Kid). It reflects Dylanâ(TM)s feelings of being an outsider, a trait he felt he shared with the real life Billy the Kid, Henry McCarty. These sequences also allude to the time when Dylan had avoided the spotlight during his time after his motorcycle accident. These scenes use many of the types of images Dylan wrote for his songs on The Basement Tapes. Christian Bale later plays Pastor John, a reference to Dylanâ(TM)s âborn-againâ? period when he recorded the Slow Train Coming and Saved albums in the late â~70s and early â~80s. The other portrayal of Dylan is by Ben Whishaw as âArthur Rimbaudâ?. These parts depict him being questioned and responding with quotes from Dylanâ(TM)s interviews and writings. Dylan has acknowledged many times the influence of Rimbaudâ(TM)s poetry.

As stated before, this is not a conventional type of biopic. In fact itâ(TM)s one that redefines the genre altogether as it doesnâ(TM)t look directly at Dylan himself in the most literal way but more in the way we have perceived the man since he first arrived on the scene in Greenwich Village. Itâ(TM)s a very experimental type of filmmaking that director Todd Haynes comes up with, as he not only uses six different actors to represent seven very different times of his life but also uses some editing that may confuse some as it goes back and forth from one era of his life to another. This is a film that will probably be confusing to those that arenâ(TM)t very familiar with the many lives of Bob Dylan. But if you have listened to his music as much as I have, seen the documentaries such as Pennebakerâ(TM)s Donâ(TM)t Look Back and Martin Scorseseâ(TM)s No Direction Home, and have read bits about his life, you will recognize just about all of the fictionalized elements of the film. Even if youâ(TM)re knowledge of Dylan as that great, one is surely to enjoy the film for itâ(TM)s highly stylized visuals and the use of Dylanâ(TM)s music, both his recordings as well as renditions done by others specifically for the film. Itâ(TM)s narrative isnâ(TM)t as focused as one would hope for a traditional biopic, but itâ(TM)s obvious that the filmmaker wasnâ(TM)t going for a traditional biopic as didnâ(TM)t believe one could get to the very essence of Bob Dylan by having one actor portray the man in each very different moment of his life. One could say itâ(TM)s an avant-garde film considering that itâ(TM)s structure, or lack of structure is all over the place. The lack of a true narrative is itâ(TM)s main flaw, itâ(TM)s length would be another flaw but for these two flaws it makes up in being a feast for the eyes as well as for the ears (that is, if youâ(TM)re a fan of Bob Dylan; and if youâ(TM)re not a fan I donâ(TM)t see why youâ(TM)re even watching this movie). The cinematography is consistently great, in particular the 1965-1966 era portrayed in the film by Cate Blanchett. There is one scene that evokes the almost exact images from Felliniâ(TM)s masterpiece 8 Â 1/2 as the characters directly talk to the camera. Other scenes that are also quite goo include the early years portrayed by Christian Bale and the scenes with Heath Ledger playing an actor playing the artist in a biopic about him while he is going through a rough marriage. But the best scenes are the scenes with Cate Blanchett. Being able to really portray Dylan is already a difficult task, a task that the others also do well, but Blanchett more than interprets his 65-66 era so perfectly. She gets every nuance down perfectly. Itâ(TM)s really hard to imagine that an actor, even more so for an actress, to have portrayed the man this good and she nails.

Iâ(TM)m Not There isnâ(TM)t a film that Dylan enthusiasts, like myself, will undoubtedly love from beginning to end. But it is not a film that the âmainstreamâ? will enjoy too much as it does get a little messy from time to time and not having a good knowledge about Dylan, his life, and the way people, particularly the fans, have perceived him may make the film very confusing. For Dylan fans, itâ(TM)s highly recommended viewing. But for the mainstream, itâ(TM)s worthy of viewing but approach with a little bit of caution. I recommend getting to know a little bit about Dylan and listening to his music, as a lot of it is brought to life on screen, before watching this movie. It's a challenging yet exciting film. Hell, you may just come out of it with a better understanding of the enigma that is Robert Allen Zimmerman. 8/10.