One of the most important characteristics of Dylan's musical career has been his refusal to stand still and do the same thing for any length of time. The result of this was that in the earlier stages of his career he appeared to undergo an almost regular metamorphosis. What Haynes does to convey this chameleon-like element of his character is to use six separate actors to represent different aspects of Dylan's life and persona. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw were cast to take on either Dylan at a particular point in his career or to symbolize an aspect of his character and a part of his life.
The movie cuts back and forth between the various characters and, like the pieces of a puzzle that form an abstract collage, come together to present one of the most complete pictures of Bob Dylan that I've ever seen depicted. With someone as complex as Dylan a simple presentation of his life and career as a series of moments in time wouldn't have come close to capturing the essence of the man. By flashing back and forth between aspects, time periods, and actors, Haynes gradually builds a picture of a man driven by the need to constantly discover something new about himself and his art.
While at first it might be confusing — what does a young black boy named Woody Guthrie (Marcus Carl Franklin) or an actor named Robbie (Heath Ledger) who played the role of Jack, an other aspect of Dylan, in a movie, have to do with Bob Dylan? — as we keep returning to the various times and places it all gradually begins to make sense, if not intellectually then at least emotionally. Where Pablo Picasso used cubist painting techniques to try and show all sides of a figure on a flat canvas, Haynes is attempting something similar with film, as much as the medium will allow him to. As we flit from scene to scene we are being shown another side of the same image until Haynes' portrait is as complete as he can make it.
Article comments
1 - Derek Fleek
I completely agree. It doesn't answer questions as much as it describes his personality. This was one of the best films of 2007. This is a must have for your collection of DVDs
2 - Ken
I despised this movie, and I'm a huge Dylan fan. If capturing the mannerisms of Dylan was so important, why weren't the characters named Bob Dylan. Or is that not "artsy" enough? Ridiculous.