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Film Review

09 January 2009 03:11 BST

I'm Not There

Directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Richard Gere, out Friday December 21st, running time 135 mins.

What's it all about?

An unconventional take on "the lives and time of Bob Dylan", I'm Not There doesn't exactly belong to the Walk the Line school of film biopics. Instead we get six actors, old and young, black and white, male and female, cast as approximations of Dylan at various stages of his life.

Dylan himself is a famously slippery character, whose reluctance to be interviewed and numerous artistic reinventions have left the rest of us with only a handful of snapshots and biographical footnotes to work with: the moment he plugged in his guitars and alienated parts of his folk fan-base forever; the life-threatening motorcycle crash; the transformation into a born-again Christian. So I'm Not There is a fragmentary look at the mythical context of Dylan's life, with a backdrop that shape shifts accordingly - from shared moments in 1960s cafes to a look at how a town in the Old West deals with its impending destruction.

And while director Todd Haynes shuffles these puzzle pieces, numerous Dylan songs provide the thinnest of threads to keep everything together. For once, the musician has allowed his songs to be used, and they're here by the bucket load, forming the emotional core of the film even as Haynes attempts to deconstruct his subject's identity bit-by-bit.

Click here to watch the trailer for I'm Not There.

Who's in it?

The six Dylans begin with Marcus Carl Franklin, an 11-year-old who brings a self-assuredness beyond his years to his role as Woody [Guthrie], a hobo folk musician travelling the railroads, on the run but wowing both vagrants and well-to-do families with his songs. Next up is Christian Bale as Jack, the protest singer who eventually morphs into a Christian preacher, a performance that's only slightly marred by a vocal tick that makes Bale sound like Jon Stewart doing George Bush impressions on The Daily Show.

From here the film shifts its attention to Heath Ledger as Robbie, an actor who plays Jack (keep up) in a Hollywood film before becoming embroiled in a messy breakup, before moving to the headline role of Cate Blanchett, playing a variation called Jude, a skittish, drugged-up musician trying desperately to escape the trappings of stardom (but not the assorted perks).

The last 'Dylan' to appear is Richard Gere, who adds yet another layer in his role as Billy the Kid, creating a new life for himself in a quiet Western town. Haynes shifts between all his actors with increasingly frequency, and still finds time for Ben Whishaw to play a pseudo-philosopher who delivers vague pronouncements to a mysterious interview panel at various stages of the film.

As an example...

Reporter: "Jude! One word for your fans?"
Jude: "Astronaut."

"Like anything in great demand, people want to own me" - Jude Quinn trying as hard as possible to avoid being categorised, pinned down, defined or pigeonholed by the press, his fans, or anyone else for that matter.

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

Blanchett's role seems made for a best supporting actress nod, and Edward's Lachman's versatile camerawork could see him repeat the best cinematography nomination he gained for Haynes' last film, 2002's Far From Heaven.

So is it any good?

The density of I'm Not There might make it seem like something to steer clear of for anyone not well-versed in Dylan, but there's a lot to appreciate on a surface level as well. Haynes treats Bob as something of a blank canvas, onto which he can project not just semi-biographical titbits but also figures from, and homages to, 60s counterculture, as well as mythical American tales like Billy the Kid and Moby Dick.

Of the Dylans themselves, it's Blanchett who's attracted the most attention, but her whacked-out Jude does begin to grate after a while. Haynes' film is at its best when at its most playful, but the good trip-gone-bad stuff has been done many times before. Naturally it's hard to get too invested in any one character when constantly dashing from one actor to another, but the extended focus on Robbie's relationship with Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) makes sure that I'm Not There isn't an entirely dispassionate exercise.

The film also works well when it moves even further away from Dylan's life, as in Gere's scenes, which work as a sort of contemplative epilogue. Some have complained that these scenes have little to do with the rest of the film, but they're surely missing the point. I'm Not There isn't so much a celebration of Bob Dylan as it is a celebration of the myths that make up our impressions of an ever-elusive American icon.

8.5/10

Dan Jones

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