2007 biopic Rating: 17/20 (Jen lasted ten minutes. She said, "I don't like this," and then fell asleep.)
Plot: The life and career of Dylan 1961 to circa 1980 using six and a half characters representing the early myths detailing his arrival on the scene and pre-career meanderings, the early days in Greenwich Village as the spokesman for a generation he didn't really want to speak for, the plugged-in "Judas" period, the years he wanted to disappear lowlighted by a devastating divorce and a motorcycle accident, the 70's revival, and his dip into contemporary Christian rock 'n' roll.
The more you know about Dylan, the more you'll enjoy this. In fact, I don't think this would make much sense at all to anybody who hasn't at least had a cursory glance at the life and times of the icon. Clearly not a movie for everyone (too artsy, somewhat pretentious, difficult, masturbatory, fragmented, self-referential), I think the multi-genre, multi-perspective, richly-textured and fractured approach adds up to an utterly fascinating piece of art. This makes the average biopic and that Across the Universe look like complete garbage which, of course, they mostly are. I'd expect no less from the guy who made a film based on the life of Karen Carpenter using only Barbie dolls though. Tremendous acting top to bottom; standing out most was Cate Blanchett in a role I frankly expected to be disappointed by. Boy, she sure had the mannerisms and cadence down. This is also great visually with some surreal touches, black and white Fellini-esque cinematography, artsy-fartsiness galore, and some interesting editing choices that are hard to ignore. Flashy and pompous enough to hate except that I thought it was pretty brilliant and loved it instead. The whole thing's like a stained-glass window dropped by clowns. But in a good way. Being a huge Dylan fan couldn't have hurt though.
"Come down from there. You're going to get yourself killed!" David Cross as Allen Ginsberg? See you later, Allen Ginsberg!
I'd love to talk about this one with somebody who doesn't know much about or just doesn't like Bob Dylan. I'd also like somebody to tell me whether or not I should see Velvet Goldmine again. I remember hating it.
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i'm stoked you dug it...i totally did, got it on hold at the 'berry to see again...i was slightly intoxicated the first time but they did use original dylan music in at along with all the covers right? if not i was a lot more intoxicated than i'd imagined.
ReplyDeletei liked velvet goldmine as corny as it was...it also turned me onto warm jets era eno...i was like "man who ever this bowie rip off is on the soundtrack is way cooler sounding than bowie" then i understood why when i looked at the credits...
I don't think I was intoxicated at all when I saw 'Velvet Goldmine' but I sure don't remember Eno's music in it. I love those four vocal Eno albums though.
ReplyDeleteIt was almost entirely Dylan's versions. They used Malkmus's version of "Thin Man" and there were a few other cover versions slipped in there for some reason. They also used a different version of "Idiot Wind," not the Blood on the Tracks one but the longer, slower one that is included on one of those bootleg releases. There was one Dylan-sung song I didn't recognize and another jumbled noisy thing during one of the Blanchett scenes that I couldn't figure out.
I wonder if a second viewing will bring out more flaws. You'll have to let me know.