DVD REVIEW: I'm Not There
By: Scott Rader
5/9/2008
I'm Not There could have been more pretentious. It actually should have been. A biopic about Bob Dylan that features a different actor for different parts of Dylan's life. Some of it as lyrical and poetic as the songwriter's songs themselves. But it isn't pretentious. It's pretty amazing.
Saying it's not pretentious isn't to say it's totally accessible. It isn't. This is a film that will frustrate, even bore, many with just a passing interest in Dylan or film to begin with. But for those who worship either art form this film pays dividends. In full. It's so dense, repeated watchings will only help to enrich the film and to enlighten the viewer about Dylan.
This film is packed to the hilt with allusions to the man's life and music. So many that it could use a roadmap just to know what to look for. Something the film's company even sent out with the press packets. Something that will turn a large audience off. It's a rough ride if you aren't prepared for a film that's both a work of art and a real look into a musical "genius's" life.
That's the other thing. The artistry of this film is amazing. Richard Gere, Ben Wishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett all portray Dylan with varying degrees of success. But they all exude a different attitude and meld together to make a complete picture of the man. And Todd Haynes bounces around genres, even mixing westerns and surrealism, to nail down a bio-pic that doesn't pander to it's audience. It's more concerned about being a biography of a patchwork artist. And it succeeds with all it's weirdness and semi-pretentiousness more than any Oscar-bait bio-pic ever has.
And even if you aren't into the whole thing, skip to the funeral scene featuring Calexico & Jim James performing "Goin' to Acapulco." It's haunting and somehow serene.
