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Bob Dylan(s) in "I'm Not There"
There’s an old dictum in the movie business that while it’s always exciting to see one actor play multiple parts in the same film, it’s merely frustrating and confusing to see multiple actors play the same part. History has largely born this adage out, giving us films like Kind Hearts and Coronets and Back to the Future Part II in the case of the former, and the 1967 version of Casino Royale in the case of the latter. Leave it to indie maverick Todd Haynes to say “eff that” and make a biopic about Bob Dylan in which the famous singer/songwriter is alternately played by Batman, The Joker, Richard Gere, a twelve-year-old black boy, and Galadriel Lady of the Galadhrim.
Stunt casting aside, this first full trailer for I’m Not There really goes out of its way to bow down and kiss Bob Dylan’s folksy ass. I have to confess that, unlike everyone else I know, I was not baptized at the First International Church of Dylan. I think Dylan is fine and all, but I can’t really get on board with the slavish Dylan worship that this trailer seems to be pushing. The fact that Haynes has taken such liberties with the casting gives me hope that maybe the film has a more irreverent approach to the subject than is let on here. After all, this is a movie from the same guy who made a biopic about Karen Carpenter and her battle with anorexia using stop-motion animation and Barbie dolls. It would be a real shame if he started taking himself, or Bob Dylan, too seriously.
</p>Thank you for helping me realize that because I regard Bob Dylan as a decent singer/songwriter, and not as the second coming of Jesus Christ, my taste in music can be only, at best, mediocre. Thanks to you I now see the error of my ways.
</p>You are right about other things as well. On repeat viewings, the trailer really isn't that complimentary of Dylan. Sure, it does declare him to be "The Greatest Artist, Agitator, Poet, Fighter, Genius, Radical of our Time," but what does that even mean? These days the term "Greatest Artist, Agitator, Poet, Fighter, Genius, Radical of our Time" gets thrown around so much that it's virtually meaningless. For God's sake, I think the original trailer for <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall_%28film%29">Downfall</a></i> said the exact thing about Hitler.
</p>Also, I'm touched that you could read between the lines of my post and understand that what I was really trying to say is that <i>I'm Not There</i> will be a worse movie than my two-minute internet short about tampons. This is why I like you so much, Andrew, I feel like you really get me. If you're not too busy would you like to have coffee sometime?
That said, I didn't read any love-letters into this trailer. Especially since word on the street is that Bob himself is not attached to the project. All I know is it looked pretty damn compelling. It may be hard to wrap your brain around the novel concept of multiple actors playing the same role in the same film (I mean not every piece of celluloid can be as narratively predictable as "Tea Time") but sometimes you have to put your own intellectual limitations aside for the sake of groundbreaking cinema. Frankly, this looks like one of the more creative ideas to come out of Hollywood in some time. Bashing it because it takes risks seems pretty cowardly to me.
Andrew Mendelson
Thank you for helping me realize that because I regard Bob Dylan as a decent singer/songwriter, and not as the second coming of Jesus Christ, my taste in music can be only, at best, mediocre. Thanks to you I now see the error of my ways.
You are right about other things as well. On repeat viewings, the trailer really isn't that complimentary of Dylan. Sure, it does declare him to be "The Greatest Artist, Agitator, Poet, Fighter, Genius, Radical of our Time," but what does that even mean? These days the term "Greatest Artist, Agitator, Poet, Fighter, Genius, Radical of our Time" gets thrown around so much that it's virtually meaningless. For God's sake, I think the original trailer for "Downfall" said the exact thing about Hitler.
Also, I'm touched that you could read between the lines of my post and understand that what I was really trying to say is that "I'm Not There" will be a worse movie than my two-minute internet short about tampons. This is why I like you so much, Andrew, I feel like you really get me. If you're not too busy would you like to have coffee sometime?