Haynes, astutely perhaps, has created a biopic with little time for "justice" or indeed any of the reverence and piety of recent films such as Walk the Line or Ray.
I'm Not There (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:12
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: I'm Not There's unique editing, visuals, and multiple talented actors portraying Bob Dylan make for a deliciously unconventional experience. Each segment brings a new and fresh take on Dylan's life.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, some sexuality and nudity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Theatrical Release:21-12-2007
Synopsis: Todd Haynes (VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN) delivers this dazzling, experimental take on the life of popular music's most revered and enigmatic artist: Bob Dylan. In keeping with the... Todd Haynes (VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN) delivers this dazzling, experimental take on the life of popular music's most revered and enigmatic artist: Bob Dylan. In keeping with the impossible-to-pin-down nature of Dylan himself, Haynes chose to cast six different actors to portray several incarnations of the groundbreaking troubadour. The result is a challenging, sprawling work that spans several decades and genres. Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin) is a young black child with a folk music obsession; Jack Rollins (Christian Bale) is an upstart folksinger whose protest songs have ignited an entire generation; Arthur (Ben Wishaw) is a Rimbaud-esque figure who has begun to embrace a new form of lyrical poetry; Robbie (Heath Ledger) is a well-known actor whose marriage to the lovely Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) crumbles under the weight of his lifestyle; Billy (Richard Gere) is a slippery frontiersman who echoes Dylan's infatuation with the Old West and American folklore; and, finally, there is the substance-abusing, confrontational Jude (Cate Blanchett), who represents Dylan in the turbulent mid-1960s. Much in the same way that Dylan appropriated a vast array of musical styles to create his own vernacular, Haynes does the same thing with I'M NOT THERE, using his expansive knowledge of movie history to pay homage to a variety of movements and genres (Godard, Fellini, Lester, etc.). The typically extraordinary cinematographer Edward Lachman outdoes even himself this time around, incorporating so many different visual styles that it's impossible to decide which is the most beautiful. While the cast all fare well in their roles, it is Cate Blanchett who runs away with the picture, proving once again that she is one of the finest actors the movies have ever seen. [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams
Director: Todd Haynes
Director: Todd Haynes
Screenwriter: Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman
Producer: James D. Stern, John Sloss, John Goldwyn, Christine Vachon
Studio: Weinstein Company
Reviews for I'm Not There
A powerfully reverent exercise in remystification, an attempt to waft some of the clouds of glory back around the great man, clouds that might have dispersed in recent years.
A multifaceted diamond of a film. Todd Haynes joyously freewheels through the times of Bob Dylan.
You'll have your work cut out keeping track of Haynes' dotty intentions, but there remains something compelling in his mercurial art.
An extraordinary attempt to encapsulate the many faces of Bob Dylan that plays better to the convert than the sceptic. Like the nasal twang of the man in question, the film finally beguiles more than it irritates.
A challenging film, one that I suspect can only benefit from multiple viewings. The success of its approaches varies, but its intent is unfailingly interesting.
What Haynes does is take away the reassuring segues that argue everything flows and makes sense, and to show what's really chaos under the skin of the film.
Among its many achievements, Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There hurls a Molotov cocktail through the facade of the Hollywood biopic factory.
Inventive and very unusual account of the life and times of Bob Dylan.
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