I'm Not There [HD]

A Successful Exploration and Cinematic Investigation of an Artist
I'M NOT THERE is clearly not a movie for everyone. The concept of the film is experimental, the execution of the 'documentary' is actually an amalgam of the aura and influence of one man in the music world instead of a linear history of a famous singer/poet, and the goal seems more to find the effect of Bob Dylan's chameleon persona on those people with whom he came into contact than it is to relate the story of a fascinating and important American artist.

Writer (with Oren Moverman) and Director Todd Haynes ('Far from Heaven', 'Velvet Goldmine') has gathered images, memorabilia, fragments of interviews, and responses from acquaintances and from these he has pieced together a quilt-like panorama of the enigmatic, elusive, ever-changing Bob Dylan. The result is not meant to be a precise history, but instead a 'feeling' for the man who so profoundly influenced American music in the 1960s. Haynes selected several top actors to inhabit various aspects of Dylan's life and...

Extras-Packed Collector's Edition!
Director Todd Haynes has reinvented the musician biopic by manipulating its conventions to suit its subject instead of the other way around which is what has always been done in the past. I'm Not There invites us into Bob Dylan's brain and has look at the world through his eyes. We also see how Dylan is perceived by the media and his fans. Because Haynes is pushing the genre to its extremes the film is quite hard to follow at times as we jump all over the place in time and are confronted by various takes on Dylan. However, I think it is a film that will only improves on subsequent viewings as what Haynes is doing becomes more apparent and understood.

On the first disc there is "An Introduction" featuring four text essays that help one get a handle on the film. "Who's Not There: Six Faces of Dylan" explains who each of the six Dylans the actors are playing and what they represent. "Tangled Up in Clues" claims that Haynes' film is "an homage to 1960s art films." It does an...

Amazing, but only for a very particular group of people.
I adored this film. It is more like a puzzle or mosaic than a story, but it comes closer than anything yet to painting a good picture of such an interesting man.

This film is nonlinear and abstract - people who like a concise, plot based story are not going to like it. People who don't know or care much about Dylan's career probably won't get much out of it.

But for those of us who are diehard Dylan fans and enthusiasts, it is a very rewarding experience. You will recognize particular scenes and shots. You will marvel at how many known aspects of the man are shown.

I recommend this film, but only to diehard Dylan fans and fans of nonlinear storytelling.

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