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Author Topic: I'm Not There!  (Read 11766 times)

ElectricOtter

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #40 on: January 02, 2008, 03:21:49 PM »
And Cate Blanchett is playing a dude because she's a phenomenal actress who can pull off playing a dude.
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oneaprilday

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #41 on: January 02, 2008, 03:34:22 PM »
Bob Dylan.

no shit... but why is Cate Blanchet playing a dude... and how can like 6 people be playing the same dude???

We might just as well ask how only one actor can be an authentic representation of a person, of one person's multi-colored life. For example, I think of myself as a very different person from the person I was in junior high, high school, college, post-college, pre-children, post-children. Biography is problematic - it tries to represent a person, a person's life, by way of narrative, by way of key events, but who decides what that narrative is, what the key events are, what things and moments define a person? It makes a great deal of sense to me to offer a representation of a person (a representation that is very consciously a representation, not the last word in truth/reality) by way of bits and pieces, by way of different actors' interpretations, by way of different actors, by way of different narrative lines. Our lives can be told from  many different perspectives - that's why, I think, there's usually not just one biography of a well-known person, there are several, each often interesting or valuable in their own ways. I think the film is conscious of that - the title admits that even in all the different perspectives and interpretations, Dylan may not even be in the film at all.

It's particularly interesting to think about our perceptions of a person like Dylan, so public in so many ways that I think his fans, the public want to believe they know him, that they have a correct interpretation of him, or that they have a handle on who he is - but what a conceit that is - to assume that because parts of a person's life, parts of his words and music are visible, that we can "know" him. I love the scene in which the fans are enraged by the unexpected electric guitar - they expected a certain person, the folk singer they'd assumed him to be (whatever "folk-singer" meant to them), but he slid out from under that label, in defiance of that interpretation, that particular slot. The film, I think, does a kind of homage to Dylan's right to be who he is without the perceptions of others being forced upon him, as those perceptions have been forced on him in his career and as he has been considered public property in some ways.

indieabby88

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #42 on: January 03, 2008, 11:56:41 PM »
I just remembered that Todd Haynes also directed the bloody brilliant "Velvet Goldmine" which, while being a much different film, was also a very fitting tribute to its subject, that being Glam rock and Aladdin Sane-period David Bowie. "I'm Not There" does have its problems, sure, but I feel like it does a good job discussing the essence of Dylan as a person. Another interesting similarity these films share is that the main characters (the fictionalized versions of real-life musicians) are somehow impossible to reach. Ones they love are pushed away, friends are kept at arm's length, the rock 'n roll lifestyle causes the protagonist to lose sight of themself, etc. The more I think about these two movies, the more thematic similarities I find. Anyway, just some food for thought.

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #43 on: January 04, 2008, 12:34:57 AM »
Bob Dylan.

no shit... but why is Cate Blanchet playing a dude... and how can like 6 people be playing the same dude???

We might just as well ask how only one actor can be an authentic representation of a person, of one person's multi-colored life. For example, I think of myself as a very different person from the person I was in junior high, high school, college, post-college, pre-children, post-children. Biography is problematic - it tries to represent a person, a person's life, by way of narrative, by way of key events, but who decides what that narrative is, what the key events are, what things and moments define a person? It makes a great deal of sense to me to offer a representation of a person (a representation that is very consciously a representation, not the last word in truth/reality) by way of bits and pieces, by way of different actors' interpretations, by way of different actors, by way of different narrative lines. Our lives can be told from  many different perspectives - that's why, I think, there's usually not just one biography of a well-known person, there are several, each often interesting or valuable in their own ways. I think the film is conscious of that - the title admits that even in all the different perspectives and interpretations, Dylan may not even be in the film at all.

It's particularly interesting to think about our perceptions of a person like Dylan, so public in so many ways that I think his fans, the public want to believe they know him, that they have a correct interpretation of him, or that they have a handle on who he is - but what a conceit that is - to assume that because parts of a person's life, parts of his words and music are visible, that we can "know" him. I love the scene in which the fans are enraged by the unexpected electric guitar - they expected a certain person, the folk singer they'd assumed him to be (whatever "folk-singer" meant to them), but he slid out from under that label, in defiance of that interpretation, that particular slot. The film, I think, does a kind of homage to Dylan's right to be who he is without the perceptions of others being forced upon him, as those perceptions have been forced on him in his career and as he has been considered public property in some ways.


I really like your interpretation here. The name says it all, "I'm not there." It evokes Magritte's "this is not a pipe" and all of the intellectual baggage tied up with the process of creating art, of representing and its relationship to "actual" life and identity.

I actually thought Haynes was often satirizing the Dylan persona, rather than somehow documenting or aggrandizing it. The moment where Blanchett's Jude Quinn hears his "real" name broadcast to the masses seems emblematic of this.  The camera holds steadily on her face as she subtly conveys the barb piercing Quinn's overblown persona. The conflict of identity creates this awkward break in Quinn and is what signals the true fragility of his super-cool exterior.

While I think Haynes does a pretty good job of getting his point across, I honestly didn't find the movie that enjoyable. This could be because I can find Dylan's music/persona to be pretty grating, but I also think there were some major flaws with the film. Is it really such an original way of approaching art and identity? (Don't eviscerate me too harshly if I disagree...still a newbie).

One more thing, what did people make of the choice to cast Blanchett in the role of a man? As I understand it, Haynes had envisioned a woman playing the role from its inception. This would seem to indicate he was trying to "say something" with his choice, but I'm not really sure what...


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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #44 on: January 04, 2008, 03:05:57 AM »
I really like that Heath Ledger isn't just playing a version of Dylan, but is playing an actor who once played a version of Dylan.  It doubles the distance between the actor and the subject, while at the same time bringing them closer in that he's playing a Dylan who doesn't want to play "Dylan" anymore.
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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #45 on: February 13, 2008, 10:27:46 PM »
As a fan of Dylan who doesn't really know the man or his story, this movie was interesting. I think Blanchett and Ledger were the best, but they were all good. I think I would benefit from knowing more about the chronology to make it make sense in my head. As is I enjoyed it and the music was obviously excellent. I loved the first electric sound scene. I think that was my favorite, along with Ballad of a Thin Man. I feel like I should do some research and watch it again.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2008, 10:54:01 PM by Junior »
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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #46 on: February 13, 2008, 10:40:45 PM »
I also really liked when "Dylan" and Ginsberg were yelling at Jesus. That was fun.
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nougatmachine

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #47 on: February 15, 2008, 11:02:07 AM »
I disagreed about that.  To me, Richard Gere's character Billy represents Dylan as a recluse.  I think him finding that guitar that Woody had is him kind of him rediscovering himself. 

Who knows?  Maybe there will be I'm Not There 2, Dylan lost in the 80s played by John C. Reilly, Dylan trying to get back to who he was, played by Russell Crowe, Dylan parodied into a movie played by Jack Black, Dylan finally returning to form with Time Out of Mind played by Meryl Streep, and Dylan as crooner singing for Victoria's Secret played by Jamie Foxx. 

You left out the scene where Dylan watches a movie that has six different actors playing him, one of whom is in a scene where six different other actors play him.
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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #48 on: May 01, 2008, 04:52:17 AM »
http://millionsofmovies.blogspot.com/2008/04/im-not-there-4-stars.html

I wrote a massive review on my film blog if anyone is interested.

oneaprilday

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Re: I'm Not There!
« Reply #49 on: May 01, 2008, 11:40:56 AM »
http://millionsofmovies.blogspot.com/2008/04/im-not-there-4-stars.html

I wrote a massive review on my film blog if anyone is interested.

I'm a little baffled by your rating of the film - apart from a few performances, you seemed to really hate most of the film, its concept, the directorial choices, and yet you gave it 4 stars? I'm just curious - what do those 4 stars mean?

 

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