I suppose I was drawn to this film by the fact that the life of this musician is portrayed not by one but six different actors: Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, Cate Blanchett, and Richard Gere. If a conundrum is set up by a film director, it is interesting to see how this director resolves the situation. If you break a mirror perhaps you will see six versions of yourself.
Biopics can be a disaster, maybe I am alone, but I just cringed at the film “The Queen” directed by Stephen Frears. I guess this unusual method conducted by Todd Haynes, should be commended. Visually it has so much going for it, it is full of odd ball characters, and scenes that are straight from the mind of somebody on hallucinogenic drugs, prominent in Dylan’s heydays in the sixties. It must be said many parts of this film left me confused, it jumped about so much, with the speed of a boxer throwing a punch, however it did make some interesting points. One of the keys for me, is how people “label” and characterise artists/musicians. In Dylan’s case he started out as an iconic folk singer, who was entrusted to speak for a vast majority of people. Of course we have remember the background of these times, Vietnam war and race riots. There was a lot of responsibility on Dylan’s shoulders, the same as if somebody would be pronounced some kind of “messiah” who has masses of expectations thrust upon them. When Dylan detached himself from this label, moved on tried a new musical metamorphosis, he was hit with the accusation of being a traitor, his fans turned against him in the most violent way. The film looks deeply into this, we see him (or rather Cate Blanchett) answering questions set to him, by a rather snooty BBC, arts interviewer.
Dylan is remorselessly dissected. He often turns questions on their heads or offers a witty riposte. Sometimes he appears, when in the Blanchett guise, a bit “bitchy” trying to deny his sensitivity. Incidentally the Cate Blanchett guise of Dylan for me seemed to work the best. Even this choice by the casting director, must be considered a master stroke. The film begins with Marcus Carl Franklin, playing Woody Guthrie, who was obviously an early major influence on Guthrie. There are lots of sketches and concepts in this soup of a film, that are hard to decipher, if you want to see a film with clear easy to follow signposting, then forget this film.
I did learn about the sadness of the break up of Dylan’s marriage to his wife Claire, played by the delightful looking Charlotte Gainsbourg, but if I was on a TV show answering questions on the life of Bob Dylan, my rating would be very low, close to a zero. The film is trying to be a work of art in itself, by not following the shoddy line of a film like The Queen. This is not a film that that will move you in a big way, unlike some other films I have seen of late, however it will make you think, and as I said before, it is rich with imagery, quirkiness and it follows an unusual method to depict an unusual man. What Richard Gere’s role was, I am not sure. Were some aspects of the film the director’s fantasy, or perhaps it I who is unable to follow the train of thought? Incidently anybody hoping to hear the great man Dylan speak himself, is in for a big disappointment, "he's simply not there.
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