True music fans, as opposed to folk purists, appreciated Dylan's musical transformation from acoustic folkie to full-band rock and roll at his '65 Newport set. As director Lerner sees it (in his exclusive interview on the DVD), the booing wasn't all that bad or widespread, but those who did boo Dylan that day in 1965 probably feel like fools now. What many people seemed to not realize though is that Dylan actually started out playing electric guitar, then realized the power and beauty of the acoustic guitar. The rest, as they say is history.
In all, The Other Side Of The Mirror is fast becoming one of my favorite DVDs in my ever-growing collection at home. At over 80 minutes, it is pure performance-based, with very few short interview and rehearsal clips in between songs. There is no narrator talking through the music, and it all has crisp, clean sound no matter what the setting (day or night).
As a child of the '80s and '90s, I honestly didn't care much for Bob Dylan and his body of work, and didn't know anyone my age who did either. But as I've gotten older and (hopefully) wiser, my own musical horizons have expanded to the point where I'm listening to more types of music and classic rock than ever before.
Compared to what passes for Top 40 or mainstream folk music nowadays, Bob Dylan's music from the early-to-mid '60s sounds like a breath of fresh air. And a digital film like The Other Side Of The Mirror makes me appreciate his (and Joan Baez's) inspiring and influential talent all that much more. I highly recommend this DVD not only to longtime Dylan fanatics, but to the casual fan (like myself) who could learn a lot from this early but important period in Dylan's career and pop music in general.
Here's a clip of Dylan performing "Mr. Tambourine Man" at the 1964 Newport Festival.
For more info on Bob Dylan, visit his home page.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nice review Charlie. If you put this together with Scorsese's No Direction Home, it pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Dylan during that period. (psst...by the way, I think that frustrated stage announcer you mention is actually Peter Yarrow).
-Glen
2 - handyguy
This is a great movie. We should all be grateful that this long-dormant footage has at last been put to good use.
3 - Charlie
Handyguy, I totally agree, hence my high praise in this review. The DVD (with the exception of the Murray Lerner interview, I believe) is all in black and white and kind of timeless in a way. And getting to see Dylan develop as an artist over a three-year period and in 80+ minutes is really fun and enjoyable. I hope many others think so as well.