I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Product Description:
Since arriving in New York City's folk music scene in the 1960s, American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has become a major figure in popular music, influencing millions with his chart topping songs. His records have earned Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards, and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Amazon.com:
Unapologetically audacious, I'm Not There is more post-modern puzzle than by-the-numbers biopic. A title card sets the scene: "Inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan." Yet the film features no figure by that name. Instead, writer/director Todd Haynes presents six characters, each incarnating different stages in the artist's career. Perfume's Ben Whishaw, a black-clad poet, serves as a slippery sort of narrator. The action begins with the wanderings of an 11-year-old black runaway named "Woody Guthrie" (Marcus Carl Franklin)--his raucous duet with Richie Havens on "Tombstone Blues" is a highlight--and ends with a silver-haired Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) watching the Old West die before his eyes. In the interim, there's the folk singer-turned-preacher (Christian Bale), the actor (Heath Ledger), and the rock star (Cate Blanchett, who has Don't Look Back Dylan down to a science). The chronology is purposefully non-linear, and editor Jay Rabinowitz cuts rapidly, Jean-Luc Godard-style, between cinéma vérité black-and-white and saturated color, Richard Lester-like slapstick and Fellini-inspired surrealism (Ed Lachman served as cinematographer).

What makes the picture fun for Dylan fans--and potentially frustrating for neophytes--is that every album and movie bears an alternate title. Ledger's Robbie, for instance, stars in "Grain of Sand," actually a reference to the Pete Seeger song. As in Haynes' glam rock reverie Velvet Goldmine, the trickery involves the entire cast. While Julianne Moore plays former lover Alice, a dead ringer for Joan Baez; Michelle Williams embodies elusive scenester Coco, i.e. Edie Sedgwick. If I'm Not There is less affecting than Control, the year's other big music film, it rewards repeat viewings like few biographical features. The soundtrack mixes originals with covers, like Jim James's heartfelt "Goin' to Acapulco." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - Five Stars for Cate Blanchett
Let me tell you about the way she looked, the way she acted and the color of her hair: Cate Blanchett makes an exceptional Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There." Todd Haynes' movie probably offers more to satisfy (or infuriate) a true Dylan fan than to an average video viewer such as me. It's definitely an "interesting" movie -- but not quite interesting enough to keep the old eyelids from growing heavy and the head from bobbing if viewed close to bedtime. Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Ben Whishaw ... Read More
Rating: - Not Conventional But I Still Loved It
I love this film. It's a difficult film to grasp if you have a preconceived idea of what a biopic should be like, but I love the concept and I thought the actors did a great job. The music is great, of course and Cate's Jude Quinn is an amazing performance. The Richard Gere segment was the only weak part of the film in that it was too long and difficult to understand but in general I had no trouble "getting" the ideas driving the how the film unfolds.

When the film first came out at least one ... Read More
Rating: - Brilliant... and Inspired
A film as wily and elusive as Dylan himself. Disjointed, deconstructed, and dispersed, it nonetheless paints as accurate a picture as we will ever get of the man.
Rating: - fun but not for people who want cause and effect
there are threads that connect the multiple versions of Dylan here. but if you're the kind of person who wants a movie to make sense, just move on. If you're in the mood for a movie that is great to look at, filled with some good (and some bad) covers, and has some great acting (thankfully Christian Bale doesn't speak too much).

Basically, this is a movie that's not for everyone. And it doesn't make you stupid if you don't enjoy it. But I will say this -- you don't need to know much about Dylan ... Read More
Rating: - There is too much genius here for it to be so uneven...
I chuck a lot of my confusion with this film up to the fact that I am not really all that familiar with Bob Dylan's music.In fact, it wasn't his name that drew me to this film; it was the conceptual design of director Todd Haynes, a man that I have come to respect and admire as an artist.Knowing that the film is inspired, not by Dylan's life but by his music has led me to believe that until I really sit down and listen to the man's body of work my perception of this film will continue to be rather cloudy. ... Read More