Category Archives: Film

Bob Dylan, Film, Music Calendar

Jan 25: Bob Dylan’s film Renaldo And Clara was released in 1978

21 Comments





Renaldo and Clara

Bob Dylan’s film Renaldo And Clara was released January 25, 1978

This nearly four-hour surrealist odyssey (232 m.)  is written, directed and starring Bob Dylan himself.

Directed by Bob Dylan
Produced by Mel Howard
Written by Bob Dylan, Sam Shepard
Starring Bob Dylan, Sara Dylan, Joan Baez
Music by Various artists
Cinematography Howard Alk, David Meyers, Paul Goldsmith
Editing by Bob Dylan, Howard Alk
Distributed by Circuit Films
Release date(s) January 25, 1978
Running time 232 minutes
Country United States
Language English

There is a myth about this film, it is considered to be incoherent and confusing, well, it isn’t. Every time I see it, it strikes me as a unified vision, one man’s vision, where he puts different kind of film stocks and styles together to create an entertaining and, yes, demanding movie.  The film is a mixture of fantastic concert footage, documentary style film (dealing with the Hurricane Carter case), and fictional, seemingly improvised  footage.

Never let me go:

Drawing structural and thematic influences from the classic  film Les Enfants du Paradis, Dylan infuses Renaldo and Clara with lots of shifting styles, tones, and narrative ideas. Similarities between the two films include the use of whiteface , the recurring flower, the woman in white (Baez), the on-stage and backstage scenes, and the dialogue of both films’ climactic scenes.

lesenfant_dylan

Also evident is the Cubist approach of the two films, allowing us to see the main characters from the different perspectives of various lovers. This also echoes some of the songs from this Dylan period (Simple twist of faith and Tangled up in blue coming to mind). Running time is also relatively similar.

It’s a free associating epic that feels pulled straight from Bob Dylan’s brain, Renaldo and Clara is a work of misunderstood genius.

Continue reading Jan 25: Bob Dylan’s film Renaldo And Clara was released in 1978 →

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts, Bob Dylan video, Film, Live, Music Calendar

November 18: Bob Dylan second MTV unplugged session 1994 (videos)

4 Comments

bob dylan mtv unplugged

I wasn’t quite sure how to do it and what material to use. I would have liked to do old folk songs with acoustic instruments, but there was a lot of input from other sources as to what would be right for the MTV audience. The record company said, “You can’t do that, it’s too obscure.” At one time, I would have argued, but there’s no point. OK, so what’s not obscure? They said Knockin’ on Heaven ‘s Door.
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen May 1995)

Knocking on Heaven’s Door:

Continue reading November 18: Bob Dylan second MTV unplugged session 1994 (videos) →

Bob Dylan, Film

July 24: Masked and Anonymous premiered in 2003

1 Comment

masked_and_anonymous

July 24: Masked and Anonymous was released in 2003

“When I made the Bob Dylan movie, I wanted to make a Bob Dylan movie that was like a Bob Dylan song. One with a lot of layers, that had a lot of poetry, that had a lot of surrealism and was ambiguous and hard to figure out, like a puzzle.”

– Larry Charles

Masked and Anonymous is a 2003 comedy-drama film directed by Larry Charles, who is better known for his writing on successful TV sitcoms, Seinfeld and Mad About You and for executive producing episodes of The Tick and Dilbert. The film was written by Larry Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter under the pseudonym “Sergei Petrov”. It stars iconic rock legend Bob Dylan alongside a star-heavy cast, including John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, Val Kilmer, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Lange,Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Cheech Marin, Ed Harris, Chris Penn, Steven Bauer, Giovanni Ribisi, and Michael Paul Chan.

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Trailer:

It is such an underrated movie! …and with some fantastical musical numbers of course.

Bob Dylan – Drifters Escape:

Continue reading July 24: Masked and Anonymous premiered in 2003 →

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan video, Film, Music Calendar

February 8: “Eat The Document” premiered at the New York Academy Of Music in 1971 (full movie)

5 Comments





eat

Eat The Document premiered at the New York Academy Of Music, February 8, 1971.

Eat the Document is a documentary of Bob Dylan’s 1966 tour of the United Kingdom with the Hawks. It was shot under Dylan’s direction by D. A. Pennebaker, whose groundbreaking documentary, Don’t Look Back, chronicled Dylan’s 1965 British tour. The film was originally commissioned for the ABC television series Stage ’66.

Eat the Document includes footage from the infamous Manchester Free Trade Hall concert, wherein an audience member shouted “Judas!” during the electric half of Dylan’s set. Dylan’s band during these shows were The Hawks (later to become The Band). Songs from various shows throughout the tour featured in the film include “Tell Me, Momma”, “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)”, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, and “One Too Many Mornings.”

Other scenes include Dylan and Robbie Robertson in hotel rooms writing and working through new songs, most of which remain unreleased and unpublished. Among these songs are “I Can’t Leave Her Behind”, which was later covered by Stephen Malkmus for the I’m Not There soundtrack.

The film also includes a piano duet with Johnny Cash performing Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone”.

Eat The Document (full movie):




front

– Hallgeir & Egil

Bob Dylan, Film

September 3: I’m Not There the Bob Dylan film was released in 2007

3 Comments

im_not_there_2007_3

September 3: I’m Not There the Bob Dylan film was released in 2007

“Yeah, I thought it was all right. Do you think that the director was worried that people would understand it or not? I don’t think he cared one bit. I just think he wanted to make a good movie. I thought it looked good, and those actors were incredible.”
– Bob Dylan (about the film)

I’m Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by the life and music of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan’s public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw. Production notes published by distributor The Weinstein Company explain that the film “dramatizes the life and music of Bob Dylan as a series of shifting personae, each performed by a different actor—poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, star of electricity, rock and roll martyr, born-again Christian—seven identities braided together, seven organs pumping through one life story.”

I’m Not There, Trailer:

Continue reading September 3: I’m Not There the Bob Dylan film was released in 2007 →