In 1999 I must have watched director Todd Haynes' film Velvet Goldmine 20 or more times. I had seen it at the theatre while living in London and I was baffled. I didn't really know much about '70s glam rock at the time. Six months after initially watching the film, I was obsessively waiting for the VHS release back in the states. I bought it and played it over and over. I went out and bought all of the early Roxy Music albums and even tracked down the limited edition makeup that was produced (I still have the little bits of eye shadow in the worn cases). At this point I had seen Todd Haynes' Safe, his Sonic Youth video and even the elusive Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. I thought they guy was cool, but he blew me away with Velvet Goldmine.
So fast-forward and he's released I'm Not There. I had only slight interest in seeing it cause it just seemed gimmicky and pretentious. I went through a big Bob Dylan phase about 8 years back and I was only mildly curious about the film despite the presence of two of my favorite actresses, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Michelle Williams.
On Monday Matt and I went shopping and he picked up the soundtrack to I'm Not There and showed it to me. After seeing so many artists I enjoy were featured, I bought it. Before I had even listened to one track, I decided that I must see the movie right now. So to Blockbuster (or, rather, Coc#bloc#ers) we went cause my regular ghetto video store had rented all the copies out!
Todd Haynes really is incredible. I'm Not There is a really huge achievement. I had imagined that six actors playing these incarnations of Dylan would be confusing and distracting. Since I am familiar with Dylan and with so many facets of his career, it was a cinch to piece it together. My husband was a bit more lost. I think it's probably quite a stretch for those not in the know about Bob Dylan. It is indeed pretentious and gimmicky, yes, but it works. There's an essence of Dylan and his music that is captured better than any previous cinematic interpretation (see that crappy version Hayden Christensen did in the crappy film Factory Girl).
I'm Not There is a bit overly long, that's for sure (2 hrs and 15 min). However, there's something utterly unique and magical about the film. It has a great deal in common with Velvet Goldmine stylistically and emotionally. There's an artistic sensibility that's sorely lacking in the more mainstream, narrative driven biopics like Walk the Line, Ray, Talk To Me, Factory Girl, the list goes on and on. In recent years Bob's been whoring for Victoria's Secret and Cadillac, and my interest waned. This beautiful movie reminded me of all of the reasons why Bob is an artist, a poet, an icon and so many other things at once.
I have a feeling that in six months or so I'll be wanting to see this one again (and again). In the meantime, I had better go ahead and unwrap that soundtrack album.
2 comments:
Even though I was a bit lost, the more I thought about it afterwards the more sense it made. And, although I'm a qualified buff to rate actors, I must say that Cate Blanchett's performance was the best I've seen in ANY movie for quite some time.
Yeah, I really liked it, too. The approach really made sense because Bob lies about his own life so much -- he really has done a bunch to build his own myth. And all these phases he's gone through -- he's sort of like Madonna but with infinitely more artistic heft (not to knock the Material Girl -- she never tried to be artsy-fartsy). I especially liked how the star side of Bob's personality was portrayed as an actor instead of a singer -- that was an interesting choice. And Heath Ledger and Charlotte's performances were the most interesting to me. You're right, Matt, Cate was freakin' great.
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