It sure sounded like an interesting idea: a movie from the risk-taking director of “Far from Heaven” and “Safe,” in which Bob Dylan would be played by six different actors, including one woman.
And Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There” is, in fact, interesting. As an experiment it’s uneven, and I can’t imagine what anybody not steeped in Dylan lore will make of it. If you want to know about Dylan, watch Martin Scorsese’s documentary, “No Direction Home.” But interesting? Sure.
Remember that Haynes once made a feature film about Karen Carpenter in which all the actors were Barbie dolls (“Superstar”), and you’ll see that “I’m Not There” isn’t a huge departure.
Like “Lawrence of Arabia,” another film about an enigmatic, charismatic adventurer, “I’m Not There” revolves around a motorcycle accident. In 1966, Bob Dylan, at the top of his popularity, crashed his motorcycle and got off the merry-go-round for a while.
The movie doesn’t go too far beyond that point, preferring to stick with Dylan’s early years. But wait — there’s actually nobody in this movie named Bob Dylan. Some famous folk are named (David Cross is Allen Ginsberg), some not (Julianne Moore is a singer very much like Joan Baez).
Instead, we watch a group of fictional characters enacting scenes from Dylan’s story. This is where the different actors come in: Christian Bale plays a scruffy young Greenwich Village folk singer, Heath Ledger an actor who plays that folk singer in a 1965 movie, and Ben Whishaw (“Perfume”) a young poet under interrogation.
There’s also a black child actor, Marcus Carl Franklin, as a travelin’ folk singer who seems to be Woody Guthrie, Dylan’s early hero. Oh, and Richard Gere plays Billy the Kid. Dylan acted in and scored Sam Peckinpah’s gorgeous film “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” and the character has been a longtime source of fascination for him, so … OK, I guess it fits.
Haynes’ most inspired choice, or at least the best performance in the bunch, comes from Cate Blanchett. She carries the Dylan-goes-electric phase, and lends her usual insight to the role.
I guess Haynes is suggesting that Dylan is all these different people, a shape-shifter who has changed his persona many times over the years. As a Dylan fan, I’m kind of tired of this argument. How about approaching Dylan as a single individual — which, as far as I know, he actually is — in full command of his powers as an artist? Maybe he chooses these roles because he thinks he’ll create great music out of them.
One thing I can’t deny: The music sounds splendid here. Haynes is obviously a fan, and just watching the evocative opening credits as “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” powers through the Dolby is enough to make Dylanmaniacs very happy.
Setting Dylan’s euphoric “I Want You” to a young romance between Ledger and Charlotte Gainsbourg is also a great touch. I don’t think the film works as a whole, but I’d see it again just for the music.
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