I'm Not There

"Unique. Cate Blanchett as Dylan was different… but I thoroughly bought into it.. she’s such a great actress. "

"I'M NOT THERE is a worthy film that aims to explore who we call Bob Dylan in a way more fitting than that of traditional Hollywood form. It takes six stages of his life and embodies them as different characters that come into the film in non-linear narrative. Not one character has the name Bob Dylan, but they embody him like songs embody an anthology album played on shuffle mode. It takes the form of folktale, fever dream drama, pseudo-documentary, philosophic investigation, visual poetry, and fantastical western. It is all of these things and none at the same time. Just like Dylan himself there is no center; nowhere to rest our understanding of him, and the more mysterious his song becomes, the more free we are to engage with the work that extends beyond the man himself. It becomes more of a perceptual odyssey that implicates us, the audience, in the act of fabricating biases and demanding people define themselves by them. It is one thing to go through it with family and society, quite another to go through it on a global level, and this film explores that theme. When watching A COMPLETE UNKNOWN I felt as if I grasped Dylan. Here I walked away with more questions, was less satisfied with what I thought I knew, and was taken away by the wind of cinematic whimsy. I understood it, but on a more intuitive level. If Lynch had ever made a biopic, this would be in the ballpark of how it would look. Whereas A COMPLETE UNKNOWN was expertly crafted to give the people what they wanted, I'M NOT THERE walks a risky artistic line that challenges the audience and delves into ideas for which it has no answers. Fitting for its subject. + Directing, performances, set designs, lighting, wardrobe, editing and script are all next level quality for a loose attempt at a biopic that explores the soul and psyche of an artistic enigma. - The western segment is a little undercooked, but in the spirit of dream logic, makes very little difference to the overall quality. "

"Lately, the box office has been inundated with successful but conventionally safe music biopics. This film is anything but conventional. Dylan is played by six different actors, including a woman and a 10 year old black kid. This would seem to be stunt casting but it works perfectly, as each is representative of a different phase of his career and the half-truths, legends and contradictions that have built his public persona. Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger (in one of his final roles) stand out here, as does the editing which thematically ties the different eras together. You don’t need to be a big Dylan fan to enjoy the film but having a basic knowledge of his career will help you get more out of it. 4.5 out of 5 stars"

"Dylan in the most surreal way. I love Todd Haynes' films"