Spring Break
Dylan Biopic Unconventional - Like Him
Movie Review
Ashley McGown
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Focus
When rumors regarding a biopic starring Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan started popping up all over the internet last year, fans everywhere started talking. Will this really happen? Will the film be cheesy? Will Dylan finally release the rights to his music for a movie?
When photos of Cate Blanchett dressed in full costume as Dylan surfaced on the Internet months later, fans were immediately taken aback by Blanchett's uncanny resemblance to the poetic songwriter. With her pale, gaunt face and frame, Blanchett was dressed from head to toe in clothes that Dylan was photographed in during the late '60s. Hidden behind the classic black Wayfarers, Blanchett certainly makes one do a double-take.
Finally, the much-anticipated film, "I'm Not There," directed by Todd Haynes, is out in theatres nationwide. Haynes' film is the first ever to be given the full rights to Dylan's life and music. Until this point, Dylan had declined all movie proposals.
The film, much like Dylan's career, is unconventional. Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere and Ben Whishaw all star as characters who emulate different periods of Dylan's career and personal life. However, this is not a chronological story in which all of the actors play the same character at different points in his life. Each of these characters are separate individuals.
Blanchett is the character who looks and sounds the most like Dylan himself. She does a superb job taking on his unique mannerisms, and for the most part, viewers, even avid Dylan fans, will surely forget that they are watching a female on screen. From watching her performance, it is clear that she has studied the most famous Dylan documentaries, like "Don't Look Back."
Blanchett's character is named Jude Quinn, most likely taken from the Dylan song "Quinn the Eskimo." Quinn represents Dylan at the point in his career between 1965 and 1966 where he "goes electric," much to the dismay of his dogged folk fans who insisted he only play acoustic, "protest" songs.
When photos of Cate Blanchett dressed in full costume as Dylan surfaced on the Internet months later, fans were immediately taken aback by Blanchett's uncanny resemblance to the poetic songwriter. With her pale, gaunt face and frame, Blanchett was dressed from head to toe in clothes that Dylan was photographed in during the late '60s. Hidden behind the classic black Wayfarers, Blanchett certainly makes one do a double-take.
Finally, the much-anticipated film, "I'm Not There," directed by Todd Haynes, is out in theatres nationwide. Haynes' film is the first ever to be given the full rights to Dylan's life and music. Until this point, Dylan had declined all movie proposals.
The film, much like Dylan's career, is unconventional. Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere and Ben Whishaw all star as characters who emulate different periods of Dylan's career and personal life. However, this is not a chronological story in which all of the actors play the same character at different points in his life. Each of these characters are separate individuals.
Blanchett is the character who looks and sounds the most like Dylan himself. She does a superb job taking on his unique mannerisms, and for the most part, viewers, even avid Dylan fans, will surely forget that they are watching a female on screen. From watching her performance, it is clear that she has studied the most famous Dylan documentaries, like "Don't Look Back."
Blanchett's character is named Jude Quinn, most likely taken from the Dylan song "Quinn the Eskimo." Quinn represents Dylan at the point in his career between 1965 and 1966 where he "goes electric," much to the dismay of his dogged folk fans who insisted he only play acoustic, "protest" songs.
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