The 6 Faces Of Dylan, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There, Uptown Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2007, photo © 2007 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Buttered popcorn in hand, I viewed I’m Not There at the Uptown Theater a few weeks ago. I have to admit, when my friends and I plopped down in the Uptown’s long-ago upholstered, vintage seats, we had no idea what to expect.
I wasn’t disappointed. The Todd Haynes film is a riddle inside a Cate Blanchett enigma. Playing Jude, the Thin, Wild Mercury Bob, she’s one of the best parts of the whole film, right down to her classic 1965 polka dot shirt. Her flavorful and juicy depiction of Dylan brought to mind one of my favorite scenes from the D. A. Pennebaker film, Don’t Look Back (a documentary on Bob Dylan’s tour of England in 1965).
Even if you aren’t a Dylan fan, rent this film. It captures the strange unrest and tension between (and within) 60’s counterculture and what was then considered The Establishment (aka The Man). (Yes, that’s Ginsberg in the background.)
Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues clip from the 1965 D.A. Pennebaker film, Don’t Look Back (posted by JG2000 on YouTube)
But I digress.
Other heavy hitters in I’m Not There? (The Rolling Stone character guide lays it out for you.) Richard Gere as a kind of Billy the Kid in The Drifter’s Escape. Marcus Carl Franklin as the 11-year-old Woody, Bound For Glory. Christian Bale as Jack, the protest singer, and Pastor John, the evangelical minister in You Gotta Serve Somebody. Heath Ledger portrays Jack in the Dylan period near and dear to my heart – the Tangled Up In Blue, Blood On The Tracks era. And finally, the least understood, Ben Whishaw as Arthur, the Poet, Jokerman, and Thief.
Confused? Not half as much as you will be when you watch this film. Even diehard fans will do a few doubletakes. The film is chock full of symbolism and references to the life and times of Bob Dylan. The Woody Guthrie scene was moving. I laughed out loud at Cate Blanchett’s romp on the hill with the Beatles. And her encounters with Allen Ginsberg (played by David Cross) are worth the $8.50 ticket.
I’m not a hardcore Dylan fan, more of a convert. It seems I have always dated, studied under, and partnered with women who love Dylan. But Blood On The Tracks is one of my all-time Top 10 albums. And I wouldn’t trade the last two summers of Dylan Days in Hibbing, Minnesota for the world.
Dylan Days unfolds in Hibbing every year, complete with a bus tour, battle of the bands (at Zimmy’s), walk-through of his childhood home, and every Dylan book imaginable at the independent bookstore, Howard Street Booksellers. There’s a screening of the Mary Feidt/Natalie Goldberg film, Tangled Up In Bob. And at our last Dylan Days, Liz and I saw the original Minnesota Blood On The Tracks band perform on the same Hibbing High School stage where Dylan got his start.
Dylan is a poet’s poet. He has stolen a corner of my heart. Not only for his prolific writing, but for all he has endured – the legend he has become. He’s another of those misunderstood rebels, like James Dean and Kerouac, who’s gotten under my skin.
You’ll find I’m Not There playing at an independent theater in the artsy section of town; judge the 135 minute film for yourself. If you’re not a Dylan fan, I guarantee you’ll leave shaking your head. If you are a Dylan fan, you’ll still leave scratching it. Then you’ll go out to Sebastian Joe’s for ice cream and talk about the symbolism you did get, vowing to see it again for all that you missed.
I don’t want to spoil the fun by inserting the trailer. Instead, I’m going to wrap this up with another YouTube clip that shows Dylan at his best – romping with Allen Ginsberg.
Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg from the 1978 film, Renaldo and Clara, music Not Dark Yet from Time Out of Mind (posted by chimeman on YouTube – if you click on his link, you can see a ton more Dylan clips)
-posted on red Ravine, Thursday, December 6th, 2007
I’m glad you wrote this. The New Yorker‘s review was positive about Cate Blanchett’s performance, too, yet as I recall it seemed to suggest the film would disappoint Dylan purists. That’s been my biggest question about the film. Now I’m kind of curious to see it.
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ybonesy, Cate’s performance rocked. I was mesmerized just watching her pull it off. And my friends and I were all discussing how they didn’t really hide the fact that she was a woman either. She wasn’t made into a man – she was allowed to retain the feminine shape and form. It was really quite stunning.
We were also talking later about how watching the whole movie was kind of like being high. There were so many layers going on, jumps from scene to scene, blasts from the past. It was wild. There were parts of it that just flew over my head completely.
I don’t think the Dylan purists will like it either. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek and takes a lot of liberties around all the symbolism. By the same token, people expecting to see a documentary of Dylan’s life are going to be sorely disappointed, too. It’s much more of an art film. And you have to know something about Dylan’s life to get all the symbols that are popping up.
If you are either of those extremes, it probably won’t bode well with you. But if you can sit back, let go, and enjoy the ride, it’s quite entertaining. You don’t have to be a Dylan fan to appreciate the filmmaker’s vision. I heard that it’s one of the few biographies that Dylan actually gave his blessing to. But I haven’t been able to document that so I didn’t put it in the body of the piece.
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It amazes me that we are often on the same page in life. I have been reading a review of this movie in Rolling Stone this week and every time I picked it up I thought of you. I was planning on contacting you this weekend to see if you heard about this movie and to see if you were interested in seeing it. I hope it comes to our local independent theater sometime soon.
The thing that struck me most was how Todd Hayes broke Dylan down into the 6 persona’s and the actors he chose to portray them. I find the idea of being different people at different times in our lives something I explore from time to time. I know I am not the same person I was 15 years ago and I am sure that being in the public eye magnifies the different stages Dylan experienced as times and audiences changed.
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Here is a link to the Rolling Stone Review of the movie (the article was more detailed) –
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/16155328/review/17335194/im_not_there
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R3, there we are on the same page again. (It’s almost eerie isn’t it? I was just thinking about you last night and wondering how you’ve been.) I agree that one of the fascinating aspects of the movie is how the filmmaker breaks down the life of one complex person into 6 different people.
I feel like a different person almost every decade of my life. I think whether we know it or not, we’re constantly reinventing ourselves, growing out of our own skin, into someone new. (I guess if it’s every 7 years for new skin cells to replace our old skin, for me, it’s more like every 10 for my imagination, intellect, and brain!)
It would be a good writing topic (and maybe it’s one we should post) to do a writing practice on who we’d choose to play us in our childhoods, teens, 20’s, 30’s, etc. If we made a movie of our own lives, who would most personify each period of our growth?
It sounds like you might have already thought about it. Who are some of the people you’d choose to play you?
The other point you make is that the audience is always changing, too. The people we surround ourselves with are changing at the same time we are, seeing us through different eyes.
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QM,
I have never thought about who would play me because I don’t have that strong a connection to actors or the persona they present. I do think more in terms of how I view relationships both personal and professional and the changes I see over time. I also explore my views on love for a partner and how the expectations/desires have changed over time.
Additionally I look at my relationships with family where I transformed from the fixer to the facilitator to the person the family rallies around when I am really sick. My relationship with my kids has evolved to a comfortable place where I have become be more of a mentor and less of a disciplinarian than earlier in their lives.
As for my role in life, I still hold onto the precept that I need to cause more good than harm and that I want people to remember me with a smile rather than a frown. My view on death and life has been altered greatly with the two liver transplants and I tend to focus more on the short term than the long term.
These are some of the things I take out and examine at times. I do see myself as different people depending on the time and influnces I have had in my life. For today, I can look at this new person I am becoming and wonder who I will be tomorrow.
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R3, seems like a sound philosophy of life. It’s true, we are very affected by family, environment, what happens to our body, mind, and spirit as we live along each day. The transitions to your relationships with family members are interesting to read. I think that’s a place I’ve done a lot of changing as well.
Like you say, I’ve also changed my expectations and desires about love and partnerships over time. My ideas of love feel more whole now, all encompassing, less focused on body and looks.
Switching gears, the only actress I thought of was Katharine Hepburn. I’d want her to play me later in my 60’s (something I’d have to look forward to!). But alas, she left us in 2003. I do have a friend who does a mean Kate Hepburn imitation though. Maybe she can stand in. 😉
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As I read the comments from R3 & QM I felt a flow of emotions like none I have ever felt before. R3 is one of my greatest heros. The hurdles he has had to overcome are beyond anything I could ever handle. The fact that he has mentioned the transplants blew my mind.He is quite a humble individual. He is a remarkable person indeed. He is the peacekeeper of the family, the rock, the glue that holds the pages of our family together.
And QM, the reference to Kate Hepburn was such a surprise for me. When I shared the story of my Grandmothers baptismal certificate in YB’s post on The Hummingbird messenger,I was thinking that my Grandmother was much like Kate Hepburn . You also fall into that category QM. The insight, the loving caring person that I saw in your recent visit. I give some of that credit to Liz. (We missed you!) She makes you happy & it is a good thing.
Well, anyhow, I have read many revues of of “I’m not there” & I heard Cate Blanchett nailed him. I was a Dylan fan, although I have a penchant for John Lennon. “Imagine all the people…” D
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D. those are really sweet things to say. Thank you. (Liz does get some of the credit. I’ll point her this way!) I feel so lucky to have you, D., as a part of our family. Your warmth and kind heart are a gift to us.
I’d love to see a photograph of your Grandmother next time I am home. Perhaps you had one in your home and I missed seeing it. If she was anything like Kate Hepburn, she must have been an amazing woman, way ahead of her time.
Mothers and Grandmothers are big people in our lives. I think of my Grandmothers often. And, in fact, they came to visit with me in a recent meditation (ask Mom). They were high fiving me behind my shoulders, right in front of the angel Christmas tree.
Hey, D., I was thinking that tonight would be a great time to try a little of that hooch. It’s only 8 degrees here and falling. This is the coldest, snowiest December we’ve had since 1996! I am loving it.
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Well, from all that I am reading here I am very excited to see the movie. I love Dylan. I wrote a post about him on 11/24
http://theindividualvoice.blogspot.com/2007/11/like-rolling-stone.html
the individual voice: Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan, and Star Trek
I think Cate Blanchett is a genius as an actor. And then the whole issue of multiple selves and identity fascinates me as a psychologist.
So thanks for this post and captivating discussion.
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QM,
I just watched a Documentary on Bob Dylan last week. It was fascinating to listen to the reporter’s questions in the very early interviews… trying to get some profound, life changing statement from someone so young. They tried so very hard to make him a political figure (as did Joan Baez) because they found his words so very poetic and dark. He didn’t know what they expected of him.
Though you and I were a bit young to remember much of his early career, possibly you were surrounded by his music, as I was…with older siblings who loved and admired his work (and still do).
I find many people now have trouble listening to Dylan because he has such an unusually sounding voice but if they really took the time to hear what he’s saying, they would be overwhelmed with the power of his words. He’s a true poet…and a living legend. He was beautiful to look upon when he was young…now he’s mesmerizing.
Thanks for the great post. H
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I never even heard of this project… which is surprising with all those heavy hitters in it.
He was a writer, Dylan, that can’t be denied. Some people thing a lot of his songs were bad, with a few sparks of genius, but wouldn’t Natalie be proud of that? He kept writing, and writing, and writing…. (with a little singing thrown in the middle, of course)
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R3, I finally had a chance to read the link to the Rolling Stone review – wow, that’s a rave review from them on I’m Not There. Thanks for the link. And I was struck by what you pointed out when we were talking on the phone today – that Dylan gave his blessing by giving Haynes rights to his music. That, in essence, was Dylan’s approval. The Rolling Stone review by Peter Travers puts it like this:
You can get a good feel for the movie if you read this Rolling Stone review.
Another insight I had this morning when I was talking to R3, was how much the 6 faces of Dylan provide kind of a structure for writing memoir. I couldn’t put my finger on it before or when I was watching the movie. But when I was talking to R3 about my research Down South last June, it dawned on me that I was looking back at myself, much the way Haynes is piecing together the different faces of Dylan.
I’m researching, writing down, interviewing, dissecting the people and events of my life. And I’m not really there. Yet, I am; I am all of those people that lived in Montana, Minnesota, Georgia, Pennsylvania. And I am none of them. I’m only who I’ve become. (Still thinking. More to come.)
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BTW, for anyone interested, there’s also a link at the end of the Rolling Stone article to a short interview between Rolling Stone film critic, Peter Travers and Director, Todd Haynes. There are some ads to get through. But here it is if you’d like to see it:
Plus: Watch Peter Travers interview I’m Not There director Todd Haynes on ABCNews.com here. (LINK)
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H, thanks for your comments. My first great exposure to Dylan was Like A Rolling Stone from the 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. (It wasn’t until I moved to Minnesota that I actually had the chance to drive Highway 61, north to Hibbing.) It was through his music and writing that I learned about him, long before I knew how controversial and political he was (I was the oldest of 6, so I guess I WAS the one who had the music that my younger siblings might listen to). 8)
I memorized all the words to Like a Rolling Stone, listened to some of his other early works. But, honestly, I didn’t get into him again until around 1975 when Blood On The Tracks came out. I first heard it in a bar in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania and there was no going back!
Hey, H, what did you think of the character, Arthur, Poet, Jokerman, Thief? He was the one I didn’t quite get in the film. Did you? I need to see it again and pay more attention to that incarnation.
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tiv, after reading your post, I think you’d enjoy the movie. Some of the struggles you mention were Dylan’s struggles, too. From what I gathered watching his early interviews, I imagine he had many reservations about the media of his time and was quite mistrusting of them. Blogging does have many faces, not all of them pretty. Yet we get to chose where we spend our time and with whom. All choices – many not easy.
The multiple facets of ourselves that you mention – I think as writers, and/or artists, we bump up against our many selves every day. I know I don’t always like what I see. But we keep putting ourselves out there. How else to have a strong voice? I sure appreciate your comment. Thank you. Maybe after you see the movie, you’ll come back and let us know what you think. I, for one, am quite interested.
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amuirin, I hadn’t heard of it either until my Dylan fan friends pointed it out to me. I’m glad they did. I’m such a visual person. I am stimulated by films about artists and writers. (I finally watched Infamous, by the way, last week on HBO. I saw Capote and Harper in an even different light than before. But that’s another post.)
amuirin, Dylan was a fantastic writer and poet. Those who can’t get past his voice are truly missing out. You are right, Natalie loves Dylan for the poet that he was. And he keeps writing and writing and writing. He’s got the fire.
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QM,
I haven’t seen the movie yet, just the documentary but when I do I’ll get back to you. You’ve got my curiosity going.
I do know that Arthur is an actual person written into Dylan’s lyrics about the story of “Hurricane”. I believe he gave faulty testimony in court and helped put an innocent man (Hurricane) to prison. Joker and the Thief refer to “All Along the Watchtower”, my personal favorite of his. I remember in High school choosing that song’s lyrics for my English final. I sat and studied those words but could not get the meaning straight in my 16 year old mind. I had my Dad take a look and he finally solved the puzzle for me.
But Arthur could also be a reference to Arthur Mervyn, a gothic novel written in the late 1700’s. It is rumored that some of Dylan’s lyrics derive from reading various Gothic Novels. The same can be said for Led Zeppelin. They were heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings Trilogy at one point in their career. Me, I’m heavily influenced by chocolate 😉
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I’ve been meaning to come back and comment on this — I was inspired by the comments here, especially the language R3 used about “being different people at different times of our lives.” I took into my writing group, which met yesterday, and we did a prompt on the different people we are or the different parts of ourselves. It was a good topic. Took me to some crystallized memories that I hadn’t visited for a while, especially in writing. (Then we wrote about shoes — we wanted to balance the very inward view that the first topic inspired.)
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I just read the Rolling Stone review, too. Cool.
QM, I love the insight you gleaned later while talking to R3, about the structure of memoir. Yes, absolutely. A way to tell the story of one’s life. Good stuff.
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ybonesy, you bring up a good point about balancing practices between the inward Topics and the outer, more detailed ones. That’s the way I trick myself into getting underneath my initial memories.
I have these sort of outer memories, the ones I go to first when I think of a particular time in my life. When I do writing practice, I sometimes start with that first visual memory and try to drop under it to the next one down. I get so bored with the first memory. If I can write the details under it, I remember things I didn’t know I remembered. Details are good for that.
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H, thanks for the insight into Arthur. I didn’t know about him in the Hurricane lyrics. But as soon as you mentioned All Along the Watchtower, I remembered the line about the joker and the thief. Maybe Arthur’s a kind of Devil’s Advocate type in the movie. I think I’m going to rent it again when it comes out in video. And see what else I can glean from it.
Also your tidbit about Arthur Mervyn – I had no idea about the Gothic novels. And, yes, I remember the Led Zeppelin/Lord of the Rings reference. Boy, does that take me back! Good insights into the character of Arthur.
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I’m glad you made the comment about dropping down into each layer of memory after the first visual. I’m going to keep that in mind this week as I write. I’d like to see my mind do that (and see if I can see it).
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[…] Not There a few weeks ago at the Uptown, and researching The 6 Faces Of Dylan stirred up a few memory bars, too. I started compiling a list of my all-time Top 10 Albums (remember […]
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I just got back from The Lagoon Theater and a matinee screening of I’m Not There. Wow. Having read Chronicles (Dylan’s biography) for a Taos workshop I was able to follow the story. At least somewhat. I went with someone who didn’t know anything about Dylan except except a few lyrics to his songs and that he had been raised up north. After the movie she looked like she had been hit by a train.
What I remember most about his book was how he was thrown into the limelight so young, and expected to have profound things to say about the peace movement. The movie hits this spot-on, and Dylan’s sarcastic comments to reporters are clearly Dylan’s way of saying, “Why are you asking me? I’m just a kid who is singing.”
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Teri, I’m chuckling about the reaction of your friend. Is she ever going to go to a movie with you again? 8)
BTW, welcome back! I had forgotten that you read Chronicles for Taos. I bet it was very helpful in navigating the film. It had to have been strange being tossed up on a pedestal like that so young. I wonder if it’s like that having a bestselling book.
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Great story on the local news last night about a Bob Dylan poem from 1957 that he wrote about his dog dying. A woman who attended camp with him that summer, Lisa Heilicher, saved the poem for more than 50 years inside two plastic sleeves in the “Z” section of her Colliers encyclopedia.
Next month, the poem will be auctioned off for as much as $15,000. Lisa is donating the money to the camp Dylan and she attended, Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin. She always intended to save the poem and donate the money to the camp, not keep any of it for herself.
Such a Midwest tradition of saving everything and paying it forward. Really touching story. She said she secretly hopes Dylan hears about the story and donates more money to the camp.
Here’s the link to the video and the rest of the story (great photo of Dylan and his chums at the camp) and the 1957 Dylan poem about his dog dying:
WCCO: Woman Keeps Special Poem From Camp — By Bob Dylan – story from 5/19/9 (LINK)
“Little Buddy”
Little buddy, rest in peace.
God will watch you through the years,
because I told you through my dreams
that you were mine.
-Bobby Zimmerman
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[…] food; human, animal, and water rights. Music is also a big inspiration — Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Perfect Circle, John Lennon, Leonard Cohen, The Kronos Quartet, Messiaen’s Quartet For The […]
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[…] on red Ravine, Friday, July 6th, 2012. Related to post: I’m Not There — The 6 Faces of Dylan […]
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