I’m Not There *****
Unlike Steve (who walked out before the end!), I loved I’m Not There. It worked so well for me precisely because it was only half-coherent. Like Dylan’s own music, you’re never really sure if it’s deeper than you can possibly grasp, just a cosmic joke, or maybe both. Cate Blanchett nearly steals the show as the only fully Dylan-esque Dylan, but 13-year-old Marcus Carl Franklin is a close runner up (below with Richie Havens):
[Tags]Dylan, I’m Not There, Music, Film[/Tags]
Steve Laniel Jul 27
The alternative to a Dylan song being great, it seems to me, is somewhat less flattering than its being a cosmic joke. I’ve had a suspicion for a while that after Dylan dies, his will will say, “Dear everyone on earth: I was totally messing with you. I wrote most of those songs while stoned to the gills, and I really have no idea what they’re about. Love and kisses, Bob.”
I don’t actually believe that, though. Dylan’s magic is being able to create a mood even if the actual words make no sense on their own. I go back and forth, for instance, on whether I know what “Visions of Johanna” is about. My suspicion for a long time has been that it’s about a recovering drug addict whose girl just broke up with him, who now needs the relief that only heroin can bring him. But I can’t be sure.
There aren’t many people who can do Dylan as well as Dylan does Dylan. He’s always toeing the fine line between mystery and incoherence. I feel like “I’m Not There” went right over into incoherence and never looked back.