This is a movie with six different characters, none of whom go under the name Bob Dylan, who each represent a different aspect of the man, his many myths and his work. I thought this was a pretty brave step for director Todd Haynes. How do you make a conventional biopic about one of the most unconventional figures in popular culture? The answer is simple - you can't. 'I'm Not There' had to be off-beat right from the start.
This movie stands up where Haynes's glam-rock opus from 1997, 'Velvet Goldmine', collapsed. This is mainly due to the fact that he was able to use Dylan's music, something denied to him by Bowie for 'Goldmine', and the film suffered because of it. Ewan McGregor's awful American accent and sub-Iggy Pop parody Kurt Wild didn't help either. There's none of that here. The performances are solid, especially Cate Blanchett as the 'Blonde on Blonde' period Dylan - a definite Oscar nod for sure.
Blanchett's casting in not as pretentious as it sounds. Having a woman play Dylan is perhaps an attempted parallel of the shock Dylan caused by his transformation in 1965 from folk to 'that mercury sound' of an electric guitar. The songs are used at the right moments to signify a certain mood or situation. It would be interesting to hear what Dylan made of all of this. He would probably dismiss it as inaccurate. His myth is still intact. We know no more, and I don't think Haynes actually believed it was going to be any other way.
Would I recommend this film? If your interest in Dylan is quite minimal, probably not. You will hate it. If you're a little bit more of a Dylan anorak, then yeah, go for it! The title doesn't lie - Dylan is not there. Or is he? We'll never really know. Have we ever really known? He's a clever one, that Zimmerman.
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