I’m Not There (2007/Genius DVD) + Bob Dylan
1978 – 1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow (MVD Under Review series)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: B-/C Film: B-/B
There are
so many sides to Bob Dylan, like any survivor, in part because there are so many
eras, ideas (even contradictory ones) and a combination of legacy and influence
that is being rediscovered for all kinds of reasons and in so many ways. He is one of the only artists to date to see
most of his catalog issued in an audio format above old CDs (Sony issued most
of his classics in fine two-channel SA-CDs) and he has made a critical and
commercial comeback. Todd Haynes has
decided to taker on a deep mediation of his early years in I’m Not There (2007) by having Dylan portrayed by several actors.
It is not
to say that Dylan is schizophrenic or to say oversimplified things about
persona and celebrity, but one thing we do come away with is that the world has
still not caught up to Dylan at his peak, most innovative moments. Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw play
Dylan in good performances that are easy to overlook and the film runs into his
problematic flirting with Born Again Christianity, speaking to a man who has
taken such a profound life journey that he cannot be totally there at any one
time and maybe we (to some extent) cannot either if we are really living. However, Dylan has gone further than most of
us in this respect, which is why we still talk about him.
Four high
profile actors also play Dylan, from the laid-back traveler of Richard Gere,
around the time he started making movies, to early Dylan played with a sense of
irony by the late Heath Ledger, to the aggressive Dylan played by Christian
Bale. That leaves the peak performer
Dylan played by Cate Blanchett. Now it
is no secret that Haynes has a serious interest in the gay and lesbian image on
film, openly gay and boldly, intelligently exploring these themes in an
all-too-rare rich way. But when it comes
to music stars, there is always a strange twist in his approach, including his
use of the actors here.
The
unreleased Superstar about The
Carpenters used Barbie dolls to tell the story of the famous, popular singing
duo, while not making it into a joke.
Here, by using Blanchett, he gets to subvert overplayed footage of the
peak Dylan by making the real-life Dylan’s points and ideas pointed again and
her performance shows that when you hide yourself, you do hide part of your
sexuality to an extent that you can become asexual. It is an interesting thesis, reminds us that
Dylan was a hit during Warhol’s early peak and becomes the highlight of the
film.
However,
the film overall is uneven, as ambitious as it is. Whether it could have been better is hard to
say as Haynes is going for an intentionally fragmented approach that has
built-in issues. At 135 minutes, he gets
into the problem of saying things only he means, but there may be no other way
for him to do this and the film and its audience needs to pay with some down
points. For Dylan fanatics, it may work
better, but you should not need a scholarship on the singer to appreciate any
film.
As an
interesting comparison arriving on DVD at the same time, Bob Dylan 1978 – 1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow is a bold look at
the Born Again era of the singer and how it came at the worst possible time
(the dawn of the Reagan era) and how he seems to have lost touch with so much
by this point. There is some cheating on
the timeline beyond 1989, but it is a rarely told or discussed period for the
singer and is an examination long overdue.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is good at times, but the varying nature
of the images are documentary like. Add
the softness throughout most of the transfer and despite a fine job by Director
of Photography Edward Lachman, A.S.C., this is not everything it could be. Hopefully, it will look better on
Blu-ray. The 1.33 X 1 image on Rainbow is as varied, is often more
colorful and oddly as sharp throughout.
Both have Dolby Digital sound, with the 5.1 on the film dialogue-based
and at its best when the music kicks in.
The 2.0 Stereo on the documentary is as solid as it usually is for this
series.
Extras on
DVD 1 of There includes another good audio commentary by Haynes, introduction
to the film and on-screen lyrics to the songs, while DVD 2 adds outtakes,
deleted scenes, alternate/extended scenes, auditions, Haynes on-camera
interview, Making The Soundtrack piece, Red Carpet Premiere, stills, extended
text on Dylan and trailer gallery.
Rainbow has contributor text biographies and Dylan Gospel interview.
For more
on Bob Dylan, try these links:
Martin Scorsese’s No Direction
Home
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2765/No+Direction+Home+-+Bob+Dylan
Dylan Speaks – The Legendary 1965
Press Conference In San Francisco
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4630/Dylan+Speaks+–+The+Legendary
Tales From The Golden Age: 1941 -
1966
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1740/Bob+Dylan+-+Tales+From
After The Crash: Under Review 1966
- 1978
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4237/Bob+Dylan:+1966+-1978+After
World Tour 1966: The Home Movies
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/695/Bob+Dylan+-+World+Tour+1966
Rolling Thunder & The Gospel
Years 1975 - 1981
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3579/Bob+Dylan+1975+–+1981:+Rolling
- Nicholas Sheffo
