Very Worthwhile (but I'm a Dylan fan)

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2008)

I'm a big fan of Dylan's and have been familiar with him almost my entire life, and I have to say that it took ALL I knew about him to help me try to navigate any understanding of this film. (Was I successful? Only in small starts with a lot of stops.) I VERY much value this film for what I DID get out of it, but you could take 50% of this movie out, minimum, and leave in everything that I even halfway comprehended. For that reason I TOTALLY understand anyone not liking this film.
All that said, I have to watch it at least one more time because it is a rare film in which I feel it has something to teach me and I want to get everything out of it that I can. (I actually found myself taking notes during my first viewing when the "Rimbaud" Dylan was listing the things a person who wants to hide must do:
1 - never trust a cop in a raincoat, 2 - beware of enthusiasm and of love, each is temporary and quick to sway, 3 - when asked if you care about the world's problems look deep into the eyes of he who asks -- he will not ask you again; 4 - never give your real name, 5 - and if ever told to look at yourself, never look, 6 - never say or do anything the person standing in front of you cannot understand, 7 - never create anything -- it will be misinterpreted, it will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life and it will never change.
I take it he meant if you want to hide from fame. When I start taking notes it means I'm REALLY enjoying it. I thought there was supposed to be an 8, 9 and 10 in that list but either they weren't there or I missed them.
I have to compliment the director of this film because it was a very brave endeavor. Both the script and the editing were amazingly psychedelic on a very fundamental level. I thought some of the dialog was really excellent (though I sure wish I knew which was fact and which was fiction, but at least with this film you KNOW it's not all factual rather than like reading a newspaper that PRETENDS to be all factual but isn't).
After watching this film I made a mental note that I really must get hold of more Dylan CDs for my collection, and also must seen the documentary Martin Scorcese made about Dylan in 2006 (the title of which escapes me right now). Oh, and one more thing: my favorite actors in the film were great and must be mentioned: Blanchette (the only one that really seemed like Dylan and the only one really meant to seem like Dylan) and the lady that played his wife (sorry, don't know her name but she had a lot of screen time and that didn't bother me a bit).