I'm Not There ***
Todd Haynes, 2007
US
@ AMC 19th Street East
I suppose no one can really say for certain whether or not this film is intelligible without decent knowledge of the Bob Dylan biography. The reviews seem to indicate no, but I was always under the assumption that if you keep up with pop culture at all that the story eventually just seeps into your brain, so why would it even be an issue? Maybe that's not the case.
I don't see how you can quibble otherwise, though. The various story arcs are emotionally pretty well-aligned, informing each other subtly. The bookends of the Heath Ledger section involve enough of a shift in perspective that replaying the same "scene" doesn't feel obvious at all.
From the playful opening credits onward this seemed heavily influenced by Godard in a variety of ways, from the experimentation with form to the sound (numerous times an onscreen sound effect matches the tempo of the song on the soundtrack) to the questions about identity.
Plus, Jim James appears in pancake makeup to serenade Richard Gere's bizarro-world version of Bob Dylan with a version of "Goin' to Acapulco," and that's tough to beat for sheer outlandish greatness.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic | J. Hoberman review | Larry Gross essay
Todd Haynes, 2007
US
@ AMC 19th Street East
I suppose no one can really say for certain whether or not this film is intelligible without decent knowledge of the Bob Dylan biography. The reviews seem to indicate no, but I was always under the assumption that if you keep up with pop culture at all that the story eventually just seeps into your brain, so why would it even be an issue? Maybe that's not the case.
I don't see how you can quibble otherwise, though. The various story arcs are emotionally pretty well-aligned, informing each other subtly. The bookends of the Heath Ledger section involve enough of a shift in perspective that replaying the same "scene" doesn't feel obvious at all.
From the playful opening credits onward this seemed heavily influenced by Godard in a variety of ways, from the experimentation with form to the sound (numerous times an onscreen sound effect matches the tempo of the song on the soundtrack) to the questions about identity.
Plus, Jim James appears in pancake makeup to serenade Richard Gere's bizarro-world version of Bob Dylan with a version of "Goin' to Acapulco," and that's tough to beat for sheer outlandish greatness.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic | J. Hoberman review | Larry Gross essay
Labels: 2007, 3 Stars, Todd Haynes, US
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