| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
|
| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
A+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A |
|
|
Is anyone there?
by John (movies profile)
Mar 1, 2008
4
of
4 people found this review helpful
In "I'm Not There," Todd Haynes ("Far From Heaven," "Safe") brilliantly uses multiple actors and characters to portray the complex persona of Bob Dylan. Once, when Bob Dylan was asked what his songs meant, he said that there is a "...hint in the title." That is certainly true here. Mr. Haynes knew that ultimately he would not give us a complete picture of the artist, even of the artist during a limited part of his career.
We do get some idea of Dylan's struggles with his art and his audiences. The movie shows the absurd need that some fans have always had to define him and confine him to what they want him to be.
If this movie were just about Bob Dylan, we could give a solid B. What makes it great, is that it extends beyond Bob Dylan to art and artists in general. No artist can allow anyone else to define the course his/her art will take. Even beyond its application to other artists, the movie raises fundamental questions about individual identity and what it means to be a person. No matter how much we think we know about someone, do we ever really know them |
My Public Profile 
