Blanchett Dylan :: Hollywood Elsewhere

Blanchett Dylan

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Unlike The Envelope's Tom O'Neil, who sharply criticized this 7.13 I'm Not There YouTube clip that he linked to earlier today, I don't have a big problem with Cate Blanchett's inhabiting of a 1964-ish Bob Dylan. I find her voicings and mannerisms intriguing, curious...oddly cool.

I also love that it's been shot in black-and-white, and that David Cross is such a convincing looking Allen Ginsberg.

I was told last May that the reason that Todd Haynes' long-awaited film wasn't submitted to Cannes was that it was long (in the vicinity of three hours) and unwieldly with too many hard-to-place strands. I'm Not There will presumably ge given a berth at the Toronto Film Festival, with the Weinstein Co. apparently intending to open it on 11.21. (The IMDB says 9.21, but that can't be right.) Many of the early fall prestige films are starting to be shown now, and I'm kind of wondering why I haven't heard about any I'm Not There screenings.

The other five Dylans are being played by Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 15, 2007 at 8:55 PM

comment #1

christian says ...

at first i thought cross playing ginsberg was a joke...but now, it might be the role he was born to play.

Posted by christian at July 15, 2007 9:55 PM

comment #2

dre says ...

its an odd piece of casting for both cross and blanchett but in its own little universe, it works man

Posted by dre at July 15, 2007 10:02 PM

comment #3

Kristopher Tapley says ...

The entire notion of this film is grating in a deep, deep way...

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at July 15, 2007 10:03 PM

comment #4

hiviper says ...

Cross is a dead ringer - perfect casting.
but I can't quite swallow Blanchett's portayal here.. maybe because I already know it's her and I'm prejudiced, or that is seems too much like a woman playing a guy.

Posted by hiviper at July 15, 2007 10:04 PM

comment #5

tholl-yung says ...

Bite your tongue Kris. I hope you are forced to deal with this movie come Oscar time. She's doing it the way he did it, pantomiming himself, for he knew nothing, yet. Is this scene straight out of Don't Look Back or outtakes in '65 Revisited? I've only seen the first one twice, and not under the best circumstances.

Posted by tholl-yung at July 15, 2007 10:24 PM

comment #6

SHR says ...

I would withhold judgement on this until I saw all the Bob Dylan charaterizations (Richard Gere???) But I must say that the immediate pretentiousness of the dialog between Dylan and Ginsberg was enough to make me want to retch.

Posted by SHR at July 15, 2007 10:34 PM

comment #7

kingofnails says ...

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but I think this looks very, very cool -- Blanchett's performance is a perfect imitation of Don't Look Back era Dylan. I worry a bit that the film is going to turn into a celebrity Bob Dylan impersonation contest, but I trust Haynes knows what he's doing.....

Posted by kingofnails at July 15, 2007 10:45 PM

comment #8

tholl-yung says ...

I think so. That was my point, too. Pantomime over impersonation.

Posted by tholl-yung at July 15, 2007 10:50 PM

comment #9

MickTravis says ...

That's a 65/66 Dylan, not a 64.

It looks like a reference to the limo scene in Pennebaker's unreleased "Eat the Document," with Dylan and Lennon riding around London seriously smacked out.

Blanchett can't quite hit the loud reediness of that-period Dylan, but her look and mannerisms are spot-on.

Also, for better or worse, we have to remember that that scene appears in a movie in which multiple actors play Dylan, so out of context it might either lose or gain something.

Posted by MickTravis at July 15, 2007 11:05 PM

comment #10

Nate West says ...

O'Neil's criticism is so "literal." It's obviously not meant to be the kind of movie he's expecting.

As to the "pretentiousness" of the dialog, it's nothing as pretentious as the "real" Dylan on display in Don't Look Back.

The clip has a kind of spooky cool, but Richard Gere? That casting alarms me, too.

Posted by Nate West at July 15, 2007 11:37 PM

comment #11

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Mick Travis: I figured it was '64-ish because Dylan is just meeting Allan Ginsberg for the first time. It wouldn't figure that he met him in '65. They ran in overlapping Greenwich Village circles, etc. I just found an aticle that claims theyt first met in '63, so while Blanchett's hair is '65 Dylan and so on, the year -- if it's meant to be '65 -- is all wrong.

Posted by gruver1 at July 15, 2007 11:47 PM

comment #12

Jeremy Smith says ...

It's obviously '65 because they're addressing the Newport Folk Festival controversy (note the reference to "Judas").

I've read a number of Dylan bios, but I can't think of a definitive meeting w/ Ginsberg. Obviously, that's not the point of this encounter; it's more about the still-young Dylan's childlike glee at meeting a renowned member of the counterculture. It's a neat scene out of context.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at July 16, 2007 12:12 AM

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

By the way, is that Bruce Greenwood doing an English accent, or have I lost my mind?

Posted by BurmaShave at July 16, 2007 1:21 AM

comment #14

James Leer says ...

Everyone I've talked to says this has been pushed to next year. Makes me wonder how this clip got out, though.

Posted by James Leer at July 16, 2007 1:45 AM

comment #15

erikwithak says ...

blanchett is in INCREDIBLE in this, ditto Cross, the movie as a whole is weak weak weak, at least in the incarnation I saw, needing some heavy editing.

Posted by erikwithak at July 16, 2007 5:04 AM

comment #16

thevisceral says ...

It's June 11, 1965 Dylan, 2:31 in the afternoon. I have it on good authority that Dylan met Ginsburg in 1964 at a Woolworth's.

Posted by thevisceral at July 16, 2007 5:17 AM

comment #17

Rob says ...

Well, Tom O'Neil has a long and hallowed history of awful taste in everything, so I wouldn't listen to him.

This is the danger of clips popping up on Youtube. To judge this bit outside of the context of what Haynes is trying to do - which I trust is a lot more ambitious than a Dylan celebrity impersonation contest - is a fool's errand.

Posted by Rob at July 16, 2007 5:24 AM

comment #18

tholl-yung says ...

OK, perhaps theatrical impersonation or dramatic interpretation (my preference) will be on display in force when we finally see this movie after a light handed touch by a heavy duty editor, but when Dylan was a boy, it makes sense to use an actress, one who does not impersonate a man, but who retains her/his femininity in the role.

Posted by tholl-yung at July 16, 2007 7:29 AM

comment #19

tholl-yung says ...

That's the tradition of pantomime anyway.

Erik heavy-editing Withak, you can lose, shorten, juxtapose and cheat. Care you elaborate on what you mean?

Posted by tholl-yung at July 16, 2007 7:48 AM

comment #20

corey3rd says ...

can't buy Cross's performance since it didn't end with the line Allen used on every pal of mine that met him: "So you gonna blow me?"

Posted by corey3rd at July 16, 2007 7:51 AM

comment #21

gruver1 says ...

Wells to James Leer: Drop me a line, will ya?

Posted by gruver1 at July 16, 2007 7:53 AM

comment #22

erikwithak says ...

T.Holly, first off, the movie is running way too long and the flow from between dylan's is strained, at best. I got the impression that its a really great idea that was not fully developed on the page. The idea of multiple Dylan's could work really well, but in it's incarnation, it feels like there's no reason for it beyond the fact that it's a cool idea. I found myself often wishing we would spend more time with Blanchett, who is the heart and soul of the movie and gets Dylan better than everybody else. Don't get me wrong, no one in this is outright bad (except maybe Gere), but I just don't know what the hell they were all doing there. There is a really good movie in there, I do believe that, it just needs a very gifted editor to get it out.

Posted by erikwithak at July 16, 2007 9:04 AM

comment #23

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Erikwithak: Send me an e-mail with your phone #?

Posted by gruver1 at July 16, 2007 9:43 AM

comment #24

DavidF says ...

Having only heard about this movie before I've found it hard to "get' and even a bit absurd.

I'm still not convinced it will work at all but you have to admire the ambition. Winslett is eerily dead-on there and I'm presuming her femaleness will speak to the larger whole if this movie ends up making any sense at all.

Plus. David Cross is always awesome.

(And what's with wells trying to get friendly with everyone on this board - is it cuz they have all the inside dope? Who are these sneaky guys anyway...)

Posted by DavidF at July 16, 2007 11:04 AM

comment #25

Nikki61 says ...

According to Box Office Mojo the film has been postponed to November, 21.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=imnotthere.htm

Posted by Nikki61 at July 16, 2007 11:13 AM

comment #26

travis b says ...

Anyone know who the man in the beatle cut is supposed to be? my initial thought was John Lennon, but if that's the case then it's a bad impersonation. Maybe Roger McGuinn from the Byrds. Or Robbie Robertson..especially with the "see ya later allen ginsburg" reference at the end..?

Posted by travis b at July 16, 2007 12:23 PM

comment #27

Toby Kwimper says ...

The guy with the Beatle cut is probably supposed to be Bob Neuwirth, Dylan's road manager, aide de camp, and partner in making everybody in the vicinity feel less cool.

Ginsberg definitely met Dylan before this. But I hope nobody's expecting accurate timelines and literal truth from this movie. It might be true, but it certainly won't be "true." Or vice versa...

Posted by Toby Kwimper at July 16, 2007 1:05 PM

comment #28

Vitesse98 says ...

First, that's clearly supposed to be 1965 Dylan. Second, the "are you ill?" query is paraphrasing a famous (American) press conference of Dylan's where his mumbling and general hung-overness inspired such a line of questioning. Third, I found that short clip so unwatchable I couldn't finish it.

Posted by Vitesse98 at July 16, 2007 1:05 PM

comment #29

DavidF says ...

D'oh. I wrote "Winslett" when I meant "Blanchett."

Also, Robbie Robertson seems like a good guess, Travis though Neuwirth is another possibility. Not McGuinn or Lennon.

Posted by DavidF at July 16, 2007 1:32 PM

comment #30

MickTravis says ...

I'm with Toby. That's bound to be a Neuwirth figure. Maybe, maybe Richard Manuel, but the actor seems to be channeling Neuwirth.

Compare the "I'm Not There" scene with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Bt8hD8Nxw

That scene is from "Eat the Document." The passenger on the right is Lennon, obviously, and Neuwirth is the guy in the front passenger seat.

Posted by MickTravis at July 16, 2007 4:41 PM

comment #31

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Posted by juanma at November 12, 2007 1:41 AM

Hollywood Elsewhere

Eye-Openers

Blanchett Dylan

christian says ...

dre says ...

Kristopher Tapley says ...

hiviper says ...

tholl-yung says ...

SHR says ...

kingofnails says ...

tholl-yung says ...

MickTravis says ...

Nate West says ...

gruver1 says ...

Jeremy Smith says ...

BurmaShave says ...

James Leer says ...

erikwithak says ...

thevisceral says ...

Rob says ...

tholl-yung says ...

tholl-yung says ...

corey3rd says ...

gruver1 says ...

erikwithak says ...

gruver1 says ...

DavidF says ...

Nikki61 says ...

travis b says ...

Toby Kwimper says ...

Vitesse98 says ...

DavidF says ...

MickTravis says ...

juanma says ...

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