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| Marcus Carl Franklin, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, and Richard Gere in I’m Not There |
Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Kris Kristofferson (voice), Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams. Screenplay: Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman. Cinematography: Edward Lachman. Production design: Judy Becker. Film editing: Jay Rabinowitz. Music: Bob Dylan.
I'm Not There is a kind of giveaway title: Bob Dylan isn't there on the screen either. Confronted with the most enigmatic music figure of the 20th century, Todd Haynes resorts to a deconstructed biopic. Bob Dylan's personae are so varied that he evokes the young man addressed in Shakespeare's Sonnet 53: "What is your substance, whereof are you made./That millions of strange shadows on you tend?" Haynes doesn't find a million Dylans, but he sticks to half a dozen, played by as many different performers, including a young Black actor (Marcus Carl Franklin) and a woman (Cate Blanchett, who earned an Oscar nomination for the role). Each of them represents a different stage in Dylan's life and career, but you really have to be steeped in knowledge of his biography already to fully appreciate the skill with which Haynes makes it all work. Or you can simply sit back and enjoy the audacity and originality of the film.
