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Synopsis
Todd
Haynes (VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN) delivers this
dazzling, experimental take on the life of popular music's
most revered and enigmatic artist: Bob Dylan. In keeping
with the impossible-to-pin-down nature of Dylan himself,
Haynes chose to cast six different actors to portray several
incarnations of the groundbreaking troubadour. The result is
a challenging, sprawling work that spans several decades and
genres. Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin) is a young black child
with a folk music obsession; Jack Rollins (Christian Bale)
is an upstart folksinger whose protest songs have ignited an
entire generation; Arthur (Ben Wishaw) is a Rimbaud-esque
figure who has begun to embrace a new form of lyrical
poetry; Robbie (Heath Ledger) is a well-known actor whose
marriage to the lovely Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg)
crumbles under the weight of his lifestyle; Billy (Richard
Gere) is a slippery frontiersman who echoes Dylan's
infatuation with the Old West and American folklore; and,
finally, there is the substance-abusing, confrontational
Jude (Cate Blanchett), who represents Dylan in the turbulent
mid-1960s.
Much in the same way that Dylan appropriated a vast array of
musical styles to create his own vernacular, Haynes does the
same thing with I’M NOT THERE, using his expansive knowledge
of movie history to pay homage to a variety of movements and
genres (Godard, Fellini, Lester, etc.). The typically
extraordinary cinematographer Edward Lachman outdoes even
himself this time around, incorporating so many different
visual styles that it's impossible to decide which is the
most beautiful. While the cast all fare well in their roles,
it is Cate Blanchett who runs away with the picture, proving
once again that she is one of the finest actors the movies
have ever seen.
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