I’m Not There (2007) — Tangled Up In Bob

This is one movie I’d wanted to watch for a long time!

The only time Bob Dylan’s name appears in the movie is when the opening credits roll out, which describe the movie as ‘inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan’. Here, the phrase ‘many lives’ hold the key, because that’s what film-maker Todd Haynes has done. He has taken a sweep through the enigmatic singer-songwriter’s ‘many lives’ and has depicted those through six actors.

The first ‘Dylan’ is an 11-year-old boy Woody, a black folk singer with a guitar slung over his back. Ben Whishaw is Dylan as the poet Rimbaud. Christian Bale plays Dylan as Jack, a protest singer, who takes the Greenwich village folk scene of the early 1960s by storm. Bale also gets another turn where he plays Pastor John, a reference to Dylan's ‘born-again’ period. The late Heath Ledger plays an actor essaying a Dylan-like figure in a Hollywood film. Then we have Dylan as Billy The Kid (Richard Gere), a bearded recluse. However, the highlight of the movie is Cate Blanchett as Jude – the hard-smokin’, pill-poppin’ caustic rock'n'roll iconoclast. She looks and acts great as Dylan in his trademark shades, wild corkscrew curls and killer cheekbones.

The title of the film is taken from a 1967 unreleased Dylan song I'm Not There. Surprisingly popular Dylan hits like Blowin' In The Wind or Just Like a Woman are absent. Instead, songs like Idiot Wind, Ballad Of A Thin Man and Visions Of Johanna can be heard from time to time.

The DVD comes with a pile of bonus stuff like notes about the movie, director, trailers, behind the scenes, cast, crew and director interviews and more.

Overall, the movie is a wild, roller-coaster ride. Right from the opening scene that refers to Dylan’s motorcycle accident in 1966 to the lengthy end credits with the spine-tingling version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door playing in the background, the movie ties up no loose ends. It lets Dylan stand as a brilliant, evasive enigma highlighting throughout that no one ever made pop music more incandescent than him.