Dylan in disguise

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2008)

Dreamy film about ingenious Bob. It's not quite true he doesn't appear at all in this movie. Short before the credits we see him blow the harmonica with serious dedication. And roundabout half of the soundtrack consists of original material, making us listen to his highness while we watch his embodiments envisioning and shaping the well known stages of his life to us.
And aren't they beautiful again, these originals, how they accompany himself, the hidden original accompanying himself in copied disguise? how they glimmer, sparkle and shine, these songs, even more so when alternating with the actor's honorable attempts to cover some of them and present them to us. Did anyone ever maintain Dylans songwriting was one thing, his singing and voice the other? how little those have understood.
The film: especially Blanchett and Bale do a hell of a good job to convey Dylans way of speaking and acting even though both of them don't dispose of the same regional language by nature. Blanchett even surpasses Bale in this attempt, also with respect to her acting, and the reason seems to be that their is a natural likeness between her and Dylan which the male actors - funny enough - don't possess to that extent.
We don't understand everything of how all the parts of this films puzzle seem to belong together but that doesn't hinder much. Scorseses "No direction home" has told me a lot about Dylans caution not ever to be caught especially by the press or his audience in trying to track him down as being the such and such songwriter or supporting the so and so politics, beliefs and so far. It is this side in him which is depicted and worked along with most in the film - see also its title - and which might well be the source for his creativeness too.