I'm Not There

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I'm Not There

I'm Not There one sheet.
Directed by Todd Haynes
Produced by Christine Vachon
Jeff Rosen
Written by Todd Haynes
Oren Moverman
Starring Christian Bale
Cate Blanchett
Ben Whishaw
Marcus Carl Franklin
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Richard Gere
Heath Ledger
Julianne Moore
Peter Friedman
Music by Bob Dylan
Cinematography Edward Lachman
Distributed by United States:
The Weinstein Company
United Kingdom:
Paramount Pictures
Running time 135 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $20 million
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical film directed by Todd Haynes and inspired by the life of iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It depicts six distinct stages of Dylan's life and public persona portrayed by an ensemble cast of actors: Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett, who play characters based on Dylan but with different names.[1]

The film tells its story using non-traditional techniques, similar to the poetic narrative style of Dylan's songwriting. It takes its name from the Dylan outtake "I'm Not There", a song never officially released until its appearance on the film's official soundtrack album. Critically acclaimed, I'm Not There made many top ten film lists for 2007, topping the lists for The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Salon and The Boston Globe.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The film intercuts stories featuring different actors playing characters based on the life or the legend of Bob Dylan. Marcus Carl Franklin, a young black actor, plays a version of the 11-year old Dylan, who calls himself "Woody Guthrie" and escapes from a juvenile correction center by hitching a ride on a train, carrying a guitar case labeled "This Machine Kills Fascists" (as did the real Woody Guthrie's guitar). Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a version of Dylan as a young folk singer with a political conscience, and who later becomes "Pastor John," a version of Dylan the born again Christian, here singing gospel songs in a small town church. Cate Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan at the height of his fame in the 1960s, when his original fan base was rejecting him as a sell-out. Ben Whishaw plays a version of Dylan as a young rebel who calls himself after the poet Arthur Rimbaud. Heath Ledger plays a character named Robbie Clark, a fictional Hollywood actor presented as best known for his performance in a film about Jack Rollins (the character played by Bale); he also represents Dylan the divorcé, estranged from his wife Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Richard Gere plays the elderly Dylan as an aging Billy the Kid in a surreal Wild West town, who defeats an even more elderly Pat Garrett (played by Bruce Greenwood).

The storylines are shot in different film stocks and styles. The scenes featuring Woody Guthrie, Robbie Clark and Billy the Kid are in color. The scenes involving Jack Rollins/Pastor John are shot on 16mm color stock, and are framed as a documentary with interviews from people who knew him describing his transformation. Jude Quinn's scenes are in black and white, and use surreal imagery based on those in Federico Fellini's 8½ (1962).[2] Arthur Rimbaud's scenes are shot on very grainy black and white stock.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: I'm Not There (soundtrack)

The film features numerous Dylan songs. Most are background music, but a few songs are woven into the action (e.g. "Goin' to Acapulco") or merely illustrate it (e.g. "I Want You"). "Ballad of a Thin Man" even provides the script for a brief sequence. Fact and fiction are blurred as original recordings are mixed with versions performed by various artists.

A notable example of a non-Dylan song is the use of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" during a party scene.

[edit] Production and exhibition

The production began filming in late July 2006 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The film premiered at the 34th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2007. It opened in theaters in Italy and played the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. It opened in limited release in the United States and Canada in November, and was released in Australia on Boxing Day 2007. It was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for language, some sexuality and drug use.

[edit] Critical reception

I'm Not There received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 141 reviews.[3] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 73 out of 100, based on 35 reviews.[4]

Writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, critic Anthony DeCurtis said that casting six different actors, including a woman and an African-American child, to play Dylan was "a preposterous idea, the sort of self-consciously 'audacious'—or reassuringly multi-culti—gambit that, for instance, doomed the Broadway musical based on the life and music of John Lennon. Yet in I'm Not There, the strategy works brilliantly." He especially praised Blanchett:

"[H]er performance is a wonder, and not simply because, as Jude Quinn, she inhabits the twitchy, amphetamine-fired Dylan of 1965-66 with unnerving accuracy. Casting a woman in this role reveals a dimension to the acerbic Dylan of this era that has rarely been noted. Even as she perfectly mimics every jitter, sneer, and caustic put-down, Blanchett's translucent skin, delicate fingers, slight build, and pleading eyes all suggest the previously invisible vulnerability and fear that fueled Dylan's lacerating anger. It's hard to imagine that any male actor, or any less-gifted female actor for that matter, could have lent such rich texture to the role."[5]

Numerous other reviewers have raved about Blanchett's performance: Newsweek magazine called the performance "so convincing and intense that you shrink back in your seat when she fixes you with her gaze."[6] The Charlotte Observer called Blanchett "miraculously close to the 1966 Dylan."[7] The film won the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actress honors for Blanchett at the 64th Venice Film Festival.[8] Blanchett also won the Golden Globe Award for her performance, in addition to several critics awards. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award.

Ed Siegel's piece in the Boston Globe, "A noble failure in grasping Dylan," finds Haynes' film worthy to be considered part of "the wealth of high-quality material that Dylan has allowed to emerge in recent years." His article is equally focused on Dylan, whose ambiguity has inspired a variety of interpretations, compelling Siegel to suggest his own interpretation: "I'm All Here."[9]

[edit] Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[10]

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] DVD release

I'm Not There was released on DVD as a 2-disc special edition on May 6, 2008. The DVD special features include audio commentary from Haynes, deleted scenes, featurettes, a music video, audition tapes for Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw, a gag reel, a tribute to Heath Ledger, a series of unreleased trailers featuring the six actors re-enacting the 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' music video and a Bob Dylan filmography and discography.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Look At the Six Bob Dylans From 'I'm Not There'", JustPressPlay. 
  2. ^ Carina Chocano, rev. of I'm Not There, LA Times, November 21, 2007.
  3. ^ I'm Not There Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  4. ^ I'm Not There (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  5. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony. "6 Characters in Search of an Artist", The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2007-11-23. 
  6. ^ David Gates,"The Roles They Are A-Changin’: In Todd Haynes's film, one Dylan's not enough" from Newsweek, November 26, 2007.
  7. ^ Lawrence Toppman, "Everybody's 'There' except Bob D." from The Charlotte Observer, November 23, 2007.
  8. ^ "Blanchett wins top Venice award", BBC News Online, 8 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. 
  9. ^ A noble failure in grasping Dylan. Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  11. ^ Best musical Im not there
  12. ^ Travers, Peter, (December 19, 2007) "Peter Travers' Best and Worst Movies of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Bob Dylan
Studio albums
Live albums
Traveling Wilburys
Compilations
The Bootleg Series
Concerts & Tours
Films
Writings
Related articles
v • d • e
Films by Todd Haynes

Poison • Safe • Velvet Goldmine • Far from Heaven • Corporate Ghost • I'm Not There.
Shorts: Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud • Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story • Dottie Gets Spanked