“All I can do is be me, whoever that’s.”
This quote from Bob Dylan, attributed to an interview he gave to the now defunct Beat Journal in Might 1965, may as nicely be an encapsulation of not simply Dylan’s profession as one of many best singer/songwriters of all time, but additionally his life as a complete. For as a lot as Dylan’s songs, particularly his early work, appear to be tied up in spirit of the instances through which they have been launched, at they’re core, they symbolize the singer’s personal journey, sense of statement, and influences, from Woody Guthrie to Jesus Christ, in addition to his private wishes as a relentless wanderer. In the mean time this quote was given, Dylan himself was breaking from the folks traditions that birthed his entry into the favored tradition and redefining himself as an electrical musician. From right here, Dylan would proceed spending his life as an enigma, letting his music and the way in which through which he carried out it function the one approach of understanding the person behind the harmonica.
Few filmmakers have tried to crack the parable of Dylan, however those that have use two components to anchor their narratives and attain to the core of the artist: His music and his expertise, each actual and imagined. In James Mangold‘s just lately launched “A Full Unknown,” which creates a fable out of Dylan’s rise to fame in the course of the folks revival of the Sixties, Timothée Chalamet performs Dylan as a musical prodigy whose reward forces him to mature past the restrict of what he’s totally comfy with. Chalamet’s Dylan doesn’t sing protest music as a result of he truly cares concerning the points, however as a result of he simply likes protesting and sees everybody else does too. As soon as he realizes the expectations he’s laid out for his captive viewers and even these he loves nonetheless, all he begins to care about is upending their perceptions and creating one thing new. He’s not involved with hurting emotions or making an impression, he simply doesn’t need to belong to anybody however himself and the music. If the entire objective of his being has to change into about remaining inaccessible, then so be it.
In distinction, Todd Haynes‘ 2007 multi-character musical drama “I’m Not There” takes a much less literal method to capturing Dylan, breaking up his many eras, personalities, and inspirations right into a non-linear set of vignettes that includes Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Richard Gere, and extra. If “A Full Unknown” is a dramatized retelling of a quick, however definitive second in Dylan’s life and profession, “I’m Not There” is extra of an goal evaluation combined with refined commentary. The truth is, the one point out of Dylan instantly, outdoors of music credit and live performance footage proven on the finish of the movie, is a caption at the start that reads, “impressed by the music and the various lives of Bob Dylan.” On this approach, “I’m Not There” shouldn’t be a lot about Dylan, as it’s an inventive interpretation of how Dylan may be understood — although a number of sections do function reference to moments performed out in full in “A Full Unknown.”
Our first entry level to Dylan in “I’m Not There” is the French poet Arthur Rimbaud (Whishaw), a transgressive author whose use of surrealism would go on to affect generations of contemporary literature, however who within the movie serves to decode the character of a person like Dylan. Rimbaud’s remarks are interspersed all through and performed as responses to interrogators, an allusion to the general public’s personal want to grasp the genius of others, but additionally a approach of giving the viewers a fowl’s-eye-view on how a person like Dylan thinks. Whereas most are sure by cause-and-effect, thinkers like Rimbaud and Dylan view life by way of destiny and chaos, thereby pressured, a method or one other, to dwell a life in hiding. The subsequent angle on Dylan comes within the type of an 11 year-old Black boy touring the nation by boxcar in the course of the late Fifties/early ’60s, going by the identify of Woody Guthrie and singing songs about commerce unionism prefer it was the ’30s. As an allusion to Dylan, this character captures an analogous fragment of his life coated in “A Full Unknown,” albeit in a totally completely different approach. Haynes’ interpretation of Dylan’s early years and obsession with Guthrie was that he was attempting to suit right into a time that had handed and on this sense, will all the time really feel like he must run from the current.
In “A Full Unknown,” that is proven instantly because the movie begins with Dylan arriving in New York Metropolis, transported through hitch-hiking, leaving his actual identify, Robert Zimmerman, behind in Minnesota and beginning anew as a supposed former carnival employee who picked up just a few chords on the guitar from cowboys who travelled with the group. Its a fantastic story that many see by instantly, however it doesn’t cease Dylan’s idol, the true Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) — bedridden in a hospital in New Jersey and unable to talk as a consequence of his Huntington’s Illness — from being moved by the younger man’s soulful voice. Guthrie’s good good friend and compatriot, folks singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), may see the sunshine and is fast to take Dylan below his wing, maybe sensing Dylan’s youth may give folks music the jolt it must encourage and alter the world prefer it as soon as did. Little does he know simply how highly effective that jolt will really be and the way Dylan’s picture will quickly overpower the message.
“I’m Not There” portrays this part of Dylan’s life, in addition to his later conversion to Born-Once more Christianity, by a personality named Jack Rollins (Bale), proven through documentary footage that tracks his rise on the Greenwich Village folks music scene within the Sixties and the experiences that led to him turning his again on the protest motion. Differing from the thread performed out in “A Full Unknown,” reasonably than “going electrical,” Rollins goes into hiding and remerges years later as Father John, an ordained minister who solely performs gospel music. This performs right into a later second in Dylan’s life when he did in actual fact convert to Evangelical Christianity, a alternative many followers felt clashed with the iconoclast persona he’d spent years establishing, however that, but once more, proves Dylan’s personal desired anachronism in terms of folks considering they’ve a deal with on him. One other aspect featured within the Rollins part is a fictionalized dissection of the connection between Dylan and frequent collaborator Joan Baez, right here named Alice Fabian (Julianne Moore).
Whereas “A Full Unknown” lets Dylan and Baez’ connection, each intimately and on stage, converse for itself, by permitting an older model of Baez/Fabian to speak her understanding of what they shared collectively, “I’m Not There” provides us a extra rounded look into their dynamic and the emotional complexities of being the one two folks at that cut-off date who truly understood what the opposite was going by. Although Monica Barbaro’s portrayal of Baez in “A Full Unknown,” notably her singing and guitar taking part in, managed to be each grounded and transcendent, she’s by no means given the house to be a personality separate from Dylan’s trajectory, which undercuts the expertise and dedication the true determine dropped at the motion for social justice. One other romantic relationship given short-shrift in “A Full Unknown” that’s given extra form in “I’m Not There” is that of Dylan and his first critical girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, featured alongside the singer on the long-lasting cowl of his second studio album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.”
Known as Sylvie in “A Full Unknown” and performed by Elle Fanning, Rotolo was an activist her total life and influenced a lot of Dylan’s political leanings and music in the course of the early Sixties, however Mangold does little to acknowledge that impression past utilizing Sylvie as a muse-like determine for Dylan, her solely objective to offer a healthful, emotional distinction to his egocentric elusiveness. “I’m Not There” lends Rotolo’s narrative a deeper complexity, whereas on the identical time tying it into future relationships Dylan couldn’t handle to keep up, together with along with his first spouse, Sara Dylan, née Lownds. Diving even additional into the meta-textual, Haynes imbeds his personal model of “A Full Unknown” into his movie by casting Ledger as an actor portraying Bale’s Rollins in a biopic referred to as “Grains of Sand.” Throughout manufacturing, Ledger’s Robbie Clark meets Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an artist residing in Greenwich Village close to the place “Grains of Sand” is capturing and having fun with a life-style not too dissimilar from the one the movie is aiming to depict. The 2 fall for one another and marry, however when the movie turns into a success, launching Clark’s profession, success adjustments him, simply because it did for Dylan, forcing Claire to marvel if he’s actually value following.
Although Rotolo is much less instantly acknowledged than she is in “A Full Unknown,” in together with the essence of her character in Gainsbourg’s hybrid determine, “I’m Not There” manages to get to the foundation of why Dylan’s romances stay comparatively short-lived whereas on the identical time emphasizing the autonomy and power of the ladies Dylan selected to encompass himself with. Maybe for this reason Haynes, in depicting the interval following Dylan’s transfer to electrical and subsequent tour of England featured in D.A. Pennebaker’s documentary “Don’t Look Again,” selected to forged feminine actress Cate Blanchett within the male function of Dylan stand-in Jude Quinn. Shot in black-and-white, simply as with Pennebaker’s doc, this sequence reveals Dylan as a wild animal determined to stay uncaged, searching for out solace in everybody from The Beatles to Allen Ginsberg, however confronted with an onslaught of criticism he can’t appear to shake.
Additionally featured in Quinn’s thread, just like “A Full Unknown,” is an outline of what occurred on the 1965 Newport People Competition when Dylan selected to play electrical, angering organizers and followers alike. Even Seeger, Dylan’s mentor, can’t abide this revolution and threatens to chop the audio system’ wiring with an axe earlier than being calmed by his spouse. Although it’s performed significantly, for contemporary audiences who’ve been uncovered to a lot crazier live shows, some even in particular person, this second in “A Full Unknown” comes throughout as fairly foolish. With “I’m Not There” nonetheless, in attempting to speak the impression of Dylan’s shift to electrical reasonably than painting it instantly, Haynes is ready to attract out each humor and seriousness by exhibiting Quinn and his band pull out computerized weapons on stage and fireplace on the viewers. It could be an artsier approach of highlighting how caustic Dylan’s actions have been, however far more efficient in getting its level throughout than dramatizing the true occasions. It’s particularly discouraging contemplating Dylan’s relationship with Seeger is without doubt one of the strongest arcs featured in “A Full Unknown,” however finally underserved by this reactionary conclusion.
Although Seeger doesn’t issue into “I’m Not There” in any direct style — not even a hybrid or referential character — the notion of Dylan’s brush with the mentor/mentee relationship is hinted at within the remaining character of Haynes’ vignette piece, Billy McCarty (Richard Gere), primarily based on the true life outlaw, Billy the Child. True Dylan-heads will know that in 1973, the singer/songwriter wrote the music to the Sam Peckinpah western “Pat Garrett and Billy the Child,” starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson. Although maligned on the time and recut by the studio eradicating a few of Dylan’s songs, the movie has since discovered a brand new following and appreciation after being re-edited to match Peckinpah’s imaginative and prescient. Based mostly on a real story, it depicts the fall-out between two outlaws, one who needs to keep up their freewheeling methods and the opposite, courted by the authorized institution into turning into a Sheriff and bringing his former compatriot to justice. In collaborating with Peckinpah, maybe Dylan noticed a little bit of himself and Seeger on this story — some extent Haynes attracts out additional in “I’m Not There.”
As McCarty, Gere is vagabond on the finish of a protracted and dusty highway, however lastly at dwelling and in hiding within the rural space of Riddle, Missouri. That’s till ol’ Pat Garrett, now Commissioner, decides to demolish the city and place a freeway in its stead. It could be studying a bit an excessive amount of into it, however there’s a line to be drawn in viewing this as a metaphor for the course Seeger was attempting to drive Dylan to go regardless of Dylan needing to be guided by his personal compass. On a extra macro-level, McCarty and Garrett’s dilemma signifies Dylan’s personal battle with modernity, all the time feeling out of time and misplaced, however finally, for higher and for worse, permitting that to change into a part of his character. After being jailed for killing Garrett, McMarty is even freed by a person named Homer — a not-so-subtle allusion to historical past’s unique poet — and despatched again on the run, pressured to face one more odyssey on the trail to freedom. For a lot of, these particulars might cross unnoticed, thereby making the general expertise less-than-satisfying, however for these with even a small data of Dylan and his life, “I’m Not There” opens the door to an excellent deeper understanding of his life and music whereas nonetheless honoring its untraceable nature.
On this sense, “A Full Unknown” may very well be an important device in totally comprehending “I’m Not There” for these and not using a familiarity of Dylan’s beginnings. “Don’t Look Again” would even be a helpful watch, however getting into blind, with no data of who Dylan was, his music, or his private historical past, “I’m Not There” nonetheless provides a extra detailed, advanced portrait of the artist than “A Full Unknown.” As a substitute, what “A Full Unknown” does provide is an introduction for a brand new era, in addition to a celebration for an older one, and whereas it could lean heavy on taking part in the hits vs. understanding Dylan additional, it does floor the much-lauded musician in a really human approach, notably in the course of the few scenes involving Guthrie. On the flip facet, “I’m Not There” has little interest in grounding Dylan, however as a substitute needs to raise his life as not only one tall story, however a string of them, all lined up in distinction to 1 one other, drawing conclusions, whereas remaining fully open-ended. Like the person himself, it’s a movie that refuses conformity, however can’t assist however be tied to a foundational custom.
“A Full Unknown” from Searchlight Photos is now in theaters.