Masked and Anonymous
Published August 01, 2003
There are so many layers and references in this movie, the New York Times called it both an inchorent mess and possibly a masterpiece. Last night, at a San Francisco screening, director Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) jokingly called it a 'mess-terpiece,' and warned the audience "You will not catch all the references, and that's OK. It's a show. Let it wash over you, and see how wet you get."
The screenplay is credited to Sergei Petrov and Rene Fontaine, pseudonyms for Mr. Bob Dylan and Larry Charles. Given this tip-off, the central character of Uncle Sweetheart can only be taken as Larry Charles' alter ego. Uncle Sweetheart (played by John Goodman in a sky blue tuxedo) is the concert promoter/ring master who helps promote a benefit show with a venal and world weary chick promoter (Jessica Lange). Together they sell it as a world-wide cable-cast event, and jump through major hoops to arrange for the perfect headliner: Jack Fate (Bob Dylan's alter ego played by none other.)
Larry Charles is either in the middle of a mid life crisis, or his vision for the future of cinema is apostatic. Although Charles says his body of work is consistent with this sci-fi/documentary/comedy/musical, it seems he is turning the medium on its ear with this marginally narrative cultish film made outside--or in spite of--the Hollywood juggernaut.
Masked and Anonymous was made in 20 days on a ridiculously low budget, which is evident from the skanky, futuristic set, shot entirely in LA. Parts of LA can tend to look third world anyway, so it's not much of a stretch to create a civil war in Babylon by slapping up wall-sized posters of a generic dictator and putting an uzi in every extra's hands. It feels like a message movie, yet the only big message, near as I can tell, is that 'things fall apart,' as Fate says in voice over. And they fall apart even quicker when the inmates are running the asylum.
Charles says they shot in digital video, sometimes getting through 8 pages of script a day. Inspired by the Cassavettes and Godard style of loose scene interpretation, the brand name ensemble cast went a little crazy with verbose monologues, which have the same rhythm and poetic mysticism of the auteur Dylan.
Dylan's performance with his band is tight as a drum, and almost as much fun as having front row seats to his show. The soundtrack features many tracks that appear in the scenes of Jack Fate 'rehearsals' plus some novel covers of Dylan tunes in Italian and Japanese. A Larry Charles labor of love, the soundtrack is worth a listen, if only to hear The Ramones cover of "My Back Pages."
- Masked and Anonymous
- Published: August 01, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Music
- Writer: Jennie Rose
- Jennie Rose's BC Writer page
- Jennie Rose's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Prepared for the worst, I was pleasantly surprised at M&A. Visually it is good, especially if you take in the backgrounds. Musically, it is imaginative in its use of the songs, in many cases not staying with them throughout the entire song, but cutting away to other images. I think it's funny in places, but no one laughed at the parts I found amusing. As to theme, I think the big one is something like 'how to be free in an unfree society' -- just what you might expect from Bob Dylan. Corruption and love are close behind.
There seems to be a marketing push behind the movie: an unofficial website offers the screen play, reviews, actor profiles and much more. It is a good source of information; I don't know if this is commonplace for movies nowadays but I liked it too.
Irony and sarcasm abound. Bob's character is continually referred to as washed up, has-been, etc, much like the stage intros he's been using recently on tour. And the use of the guitar as a plot device is clever; it reminded me of Chekhov's advice: if a gun is introduced in the first act, it had better be used by the third act, so: if a guitar is introduced in the first act ....
Larry Charles is right about not catching everything. I think I'll go see it again.
The Ramones performing "My Back Pages" is not included on the soundtrack. Rather, the Magokoro Brothers perform it in Japanese. Perhaps this is just the '93 version from the Ramones' Acid Eaters album?
I am going to an evening showing of the film, followed immediately by Bob's show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in what will be my first ever multi-media, multi-Bob experience.
If the movie is half as engrossing or profound as the original Solaris, I will be shocked and pleased. I'm glad some people liked it here, as most reviews have been dreadful. The New York magazine one is at
(You have to scrolll down)
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/n_9050/
It is such a pan, it makes me laugh. And want to see the film even more.
PS: Renaldo and Clara is not so bad and the music is just great.
Something is definitely happening here, Mr. Jones. If you appreciate Dylan, it's a must-see.
The stoic nature of Jack Fate creates the overall vibe of the film.
Witnessing the unfolding of the diologues/monologues, not to mention the inside references is like watching "Stuck Inside a Mobile" or "Desolation Row".
Professional critics look for certain things that they're used to seeing. It's no surprise that most of them couldn't see anything beyond what they're used to seeing, but that just speaks for itself.
One more thing. I too saw Renaldo & Clara on the big screen in 78. In no way would I call that painful.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/7374)
Oh, god. A "marginally narrative cultish film" starring Bob Dylan? Shades of Renaldo and Clara, Dylan's 4-hour opus which inaccountably played in my small Oklahoma town when it came out in 1978. It was certainly the most mind-numbingly painful movie experience I'd had in my short life and is right up there next to the original Soviet "Solaris" as an all-time contender.
I had high hopes for Masked and Anonymous, but now as the "Renaldo and Clara" flashbacks start to set in I'm not so sure.