Am I really going to compare I’m Not There to The Passion of the Christ and James Cawley’s New Voyages films? Yes – and I will do it with love.
Before I do, first, hats off to Haynes and co for making the only possible Bob Dylan film – one that doesn’t once mention the name Bob Dylan. I enjoyed watching this film tremendously. But I am a big Dylan fan. In fact, there was a time when I was a little obsessed and, as such, I caught (I think) all the easter eggs in this movie. But I kept wondering about my friend Kerry. Kerry probably knows two facts about Bob Dylan – that we sang “Like A Rolling Stone” and, well, that might be the only fact he knows about him. So I’m Not There will be a gigantic puzzle. Much like The Passion of the Christ offered a tale with no context – the iconography of I’m Not There will mean nothing to those that aren’t already converted.
And speaking of iconography – from a formal point of view, this may be Haynes best work. What a sandbox he has to play in! (And Ed Lachman to shoot it!) The costumes, the hair, the houses and sets – Haynes was no doubt in heaven recreating the scenarios hinted at in documentary footage and on the inner sleeve of record jackets. This is, essentially, fan fiction – much like our friend James Cawley has perfected in upstate New York with his to-the-last-dial reproduction of the original Starship Enterprise. No one isn’t wowed by Cawley’s attention to detail – the stories, on the other hand….
I can’t deny I checked my watch more than once during I’m Not There. That doesn’t mean I didn’t smile when I caught a glimpse of Moondog or Hal Leventhal or Peter Orlovsky or Bob Neuwirth or heard another obscure Dylan line slipped into some dialogue or saw a visual representation of a Dylan character (Richard Gere’s town of wackyness almost all devoted to songs originally released on bootleg!) But about midway through I realized this was going to be all sizzle and no steak. There’s no tight connection to the hearts of the characters here – and maybe that is Haynes overall point. Makes you realize how surprising it is that Naked Lunch can do much of what I’m Not There does AND keep you engrossed in a plot-heavy story.
