3 months ago 11th Jul 16:25
Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger
Dir: Todd Hayes
Rating: 3.5
The music biopic is currently one of cinema's most popular topics with the likes of Ray, Walk the Line and Control all being a success.
But I'm Not There, which depicts the ever changing face and musical sound of legend Bob Dylan, is done in a unique way that uses six different actors to depict six distinct stages of Dylan's life and public persona.
As a result director Todd Hayes has produced a sprawling look at one of music's most influential figures that spans decades and a range of different musical sounds.
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.
What is so great about this movie is it's experimental, you won't see a film like this for the rest of the year, and is unsure within itself whether is actually going to work. And while, at times, it seems to lose it's direction it does successfully show the changing image of the folk hero.
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