This is a brilliant story that dramatizes Bob Dylan's metamorphoses; it utilizes different actors in completely different stories and genres, each one based on the musical themes and characteristics of a particular time in Dylan's life.
Inspired by The Music & Many Lives of Bob Dylan, the actors portray a prophet, poet, outlaw, imposter, star of the electrical music world, rock and roll icon, and a born-again Christian, with none of them really being Bob Dylan in name.
As Woody/Bob Dylan, Marcus Carl Franklin portrays a teenaged African American who rides the rails during the Depression, giving the impression of a carefree Dylan copying the ways of Woody Guthrie, the man who had shaped his early musical years. This magnificent young actor set the stage for the other interpretations.
The chronology of this film jumps back and forth in time because the Dylan characters are matched to the film's score. Christian Bale as Jack is a Greenwich Village protest singer who later comes back into the film as the born-again Christian named John. Cate Blanchett plays Jude, a 1960s Dylan persona who is on a tour of England. Richard Gere's character as Billy the Kid is when Dylan was doing his brief acting bit in westerns. In this surreal impression Billy lives in a frontier town. I can only assume that Dylan truly wanted to live in that time in history. Ben Whishaw is seen briefly as Arthur/Dylan answering questions on a TV interview. The last of the Dylan interpreters is Heath Ledger as Robbie/Dylan, a Hollywood actor whose irrational ego caused his wife Alice (Julianne Moore) to leave him.
As I mentioned earlier, this film is navigated by the musical score that connects and criss-crosses the Dylans as Dylan re-invents himself over the years. His life is shape-shifting, and the film loops into these stages with the musical talents of Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Hold Steady, and Antony & The Johnsons. Though the music was great, the cinematography, which makes use of a lot of panoramic views, is a mark of genius.
The stellar ensemble cast was brilliant. Cate Blanchett once again turns in an excellant performance and it just might get her another nomination at Academy Awards. The movie is narrated by Kris Kristofferson.
If you like Bob Dylan, this is a must hear and see movie.
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Release date: November 21, 2007
Genre: Drama, Musical, Western, Fantasy and BioPic
Distributor: The Weinstein Company (USA), Paramount Pictures (UK)
MPAA Rating: R
Article comments
1 - Kevin Eagan
Can't wait. Any word on where the show is playing? I know it's only being shown in select areas.
2 - Paul
"Richard Gere's character as Billy the Kid is when Dylan was doing his brief acting bit in westerns. In this surreal impression Billy lives in a frontier town. I can only assume that Dylan truly wanted to live in that time in history."
Actually Richard Gere's character is an amalgamation of Billy the Kid, traditional folk Dylan, and the Dylan who exists as a protagonist in numerous songs from throughout his career in the bizarre re-imagined 1800s rural America we see in the film. I suggest you listen to the Genuine Basement Tapes, the albums John Wesley Harding, Time Out of Mind, and Love & Theft and imagine the Richard Gere character and setting.