Although this is a music blog, I'm going to attempt a movie review, which I've never tried before. Last December, I bought the soundtrack to I'm Not There, and I've played it consistently for the past 5 months now. It is the most exciting movie soundtrack I've heard since Purple Rain and it's also everything a tribute album should be: great artists who are mostly 40 years younger than Bob Dylan reinterpreting his songs with their own artistic liberties but staying true to the originals. I couldn't wait to see the movie, which was nowhere to be found at local theaters, but I finally was able to now that it's out on DVD.
Though a great movie, it's very disjointed and might not be enjoyable for anybody who doesn't know anything about Bob Dylan. Different parts of his career are depicted by six different actors, but their performances are not chronological and the film constantly switches from one actor to another with no transition. The movie isn't a biography and it doesn't try to be: it doesn't try to hit his career highlights or tell a tale of his life; instead, it paints a portrait of him through small, seemingly random pictures of his many moods and personalities.
Like Dylan's best albums and like the soundtrack, I will probably find different moments I love every time though. Here were a few gems on my first viewing:
- Marcus Carl Franklin: whether singing "Tombstone Blues" on the porch or fighting with a thief, he was my favorite thing about this movie.
- Tom Verlaine's version of "Cold Irons Bound" could not have a better place than a drug trip in a black-and-white public restroom.
- The Newport Folk Festival was the most realistically acted part of the film: not very creative, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
- "All Along The Watchtower" portrays, simultaneously, a broken relationship and the Vietnam War on television, and works perfectly for both.
- The church revival song "Pressing On" was a great glimpse into Dylan's brief and occasional Christian years.
It might be hard to understand this movie if you don't listen to Dylan, but this one is a must for Dylan fans or anybody who loves the musician-biography genre. It's much closer to being Pink Floyd's The Wall than a straight-up life retelling like Walk The Line (I suppose we'll get a movie like that when Bob Dylan actually dies). It definitely has re watching potential: I need at least another viewing to understand the Billy the Kid scenes.
Before you watch the movie, buy the "I'm Not There" soundtrack and at least Highway 61 Revisited and Blood On The Tracks. Even if they don't help you get this movie, they will enhance your life.
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