This is going to be a load of bobbins, isn't it? If it's not mostly pretentious arty nonsense in which I have absolutely no interest, I'm going to be amazed. And, for extra added annoyance, it's going to have Bob in it.
Oh yes, it very much is mostly pretentious arty nonsense in which Bob features quite a lot. Ostensibly it follows Bob's Rolling Thunder Revue tour which played 57 concerts in '75/'76 in smaller venues in smaller towns to help him connect with his audience and featured a load of other musicians (it must have been a logistical nightmare). But the film kinda sprawls in whatever direction it feels like - other "highlights" include Allen Ginsberg "dancing" (there's a lot of "dancing" going on throughout the film) and Patti Smith with some, well, I'm not entirely what it was - poetry?
But I do have to admit that I found the concert footage more interesting (and higher quality) than I was expecting, particularly the stuff with Joan Baez in where her voice softens Bob's rough edges nicely. I'm not entirely clear why he paints his face white half the time - I suspect I wouldn't understand if it was explained to me. I also enjoyed the bits with Joni Mitchell and Scarlet Rivera in - I wasn't aware of Scarlet beforehand and she's a very interesting character and a fine violinist to boot.
However - when reading up about the film halfway through watching it, things got considerably weirder...
(I should warn you that spoilers follow - although there's a definite discussion to be had as to whether they spoil or improve the film)
The film is a mix of vintage tour footage and talking-head shots, both from the time and reminiscing from the current day. However, some of the tour footage and characters are fictionalised and some of the current day talking-head footage (including from Bob) refers to the fictionalised footage/characters as though they actually happened/existed. It also features quite a few clips of Sharon Stone reminiscing about her time with Bob on the tour - none of which happened in the slightest. WHAT?!? Why would you do that?!?
I'm guessing it's some kind of metaphysical comment on the relationship between memory and reality but, to be honest, it feels a bit of a silly idea. It actually made me question whether anything I was seeing was real - maybe that was the intended outcome? I also think if I really cared about Dylan and/or the tour, then maybe I'd feel they weren't treating it with the respect it deserved. There's no doubt they blend reality and fiction well though - I had no idea it was happening until I read about it.
I really didn't need 140 minutes of it - but let's be honest, I'd probably be complaining if there was 14 minutes of it. I didn't hate it though, but I did find most of it pretty boring and I found the whole fictionalisation thing a very odd choice. However, I liked seeing some of the famous faces of the time popping up and, as previously mentioned, I found some of the concert footage a lot more enjoyable than I expected. It has however made me keener to watch The Last Waltz - another Scorsese film featuring Bob.
Oh yes, it very much is mostly pretentious arty nonsense in which Bob features quite a lot. Ostensibly it follows Bob's Rolling Thunder Revue tour which played 57 concerts in '75/'76 in smaller venues in smaller towns to help him connect with his audience and featured a load of other musicians (it must have been a logistical nightmare). But the film kinda sprawls in whatever direction it feels like - other "highlights" include Allen Ginsberg "dancing" (there's a lot of "dancing" going on throughout the film) and Patti Smith with some, well, I'm not entirely what it was - poetry?
But I do have to admit that I found the concert footage more interesting (and higher quality) than I was expecting, particularly the stuff with Joan Baez in where her voice softens Bob's rough edges nicely. I'm not entirely clear why he paints his face white half the time - I suspect I wouldn't understand if it was explained to me. I also enjoyed the bits with Joni Mitchell and Scarlet Rivera in - I wasn't aware of Scarlet beforehand and she's a very interesting character and a fine violinist to boot.
However - when reading up about the film halfway through watching it, things got considerably weirder...
(I should warn you that spoilers follow - although there's a definite discussion to be had as to whether they spoil or improve the film)
The film is a mix of vintage tour footage and talking-head shots, both from the time and reminiscing from the current day. However, some of the tour footage and characters are fictionalised and some of the current day talking-head footage (including from Bob) refers to the fictionalised footage/characters as though they actually happened/existed. It also features quite a few clips of Sharon Stone reminiscing about her time with Bob on the tour - none of which happened in the slightest. WHAT?!? Why would you do that?!?
I'm guessing it's some kind of metaphysical comment on the relationship between memory and reality but, to be honest, it feels a bit of a silly idea. It actually made me question whether anything I was seeing was real - maybe that was the intended outcome? I also think if I really cared about Dylan and/or the tour, then maybe I'd feel they weren't treating it with the respect it deserved. There's no doubt they blend reality and fiction well though - I had no idea it was happening until I read about it.
I really didn't need 140 minutes of it - but let's be honest, I'd probably be complaining if there was 14 minutes of it. I didn't hate it though, but I did find most of it pretty boring and I found the whole fictionalisation thing a very odd choice. However, I liked seeing some of the famous faces of the time popping up and, as previously mentioned, I found some of the concert footage a lot more enjoyable than I expected. It has however made me keener to watch The Last Waltz - another Scorsese film featuring Bob.