I'm Not There. (2007)

Director:

Todd Haynes

Writers:

Todd Haynes (screenplay) &
Oren Moverman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.

Plot Keywords:

Black And White | Existential | Church Choir | Cigarette Smoking | Voice Over Narration

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Cate Blanchett	...	Jude Quinn
Ben Whishaw	...	Arthur Rimbaud
Christian Bale	...	Jack Rollins
Richard Gere	...	Billy the Kid
Marcus Carl Franklin	...	Woody Guthrie
Heath Ledger	...	Robbie Clark
Kris Kristofferson	...	Narrator (voice)
Don Francks	...	Hobo Joe
Roc LaFortune	...	Hobo Moe
Larry Day	...	Government Agent
Paul Cagelet	...	Carny
Pierre-Alexandre Fortin	...	Gorgeous George
Richie Havens	...	Old Man Arvin
Tyrone Benskin	...	Mr. Arvin
Kim Roberts	...	Mrs. Arvin

Also Known As:

I'm Not There (Germany) (USA) (poster title)
I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Brazil:12 | USA:R | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | UK:15 | Sweden:7 | Canada:14A | South Korea:15 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Brigham, Québec, Canada

Company:

Killer Films

Trivia:

Cate Blanchett wore a sock down her trousers to play Bob Dylan. The actress said it "helped me walk like a man."

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the sequence when Robbie and Claire buy the motorcycle, Robbie gets out of the car to sit on the motorcycle and even though he locks the car, he leaves the headlights on.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: There he lies. God rest his soul, and his rudeness. A devouring public can now share the remains of his sickness, and his phone numbers. There he lay: poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, star of electricity. Nailed by a peeping tom, who would soon discover...
Jude: A poem is like a naked person...
Narrator: - even the ghost was more than one person.
Arthur: ...but a song is something that walks by itself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-01-31)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Moonshiner

Saviors Grow Fast Asleep

Saw this at the Toronto Film Festival. I really liked it, although maybe the Richard Gere scenes are the one's to skip, though it's not really his fault. Cate Blanchett is getting a lot of buzz for her performance, and she deserves it. The actors are all playing versions of Dylan, though their characters have different names. Blanchett plays an incarnation of Dylan that would be right around the time of "Don't Look Back".

Although I think Todd Haynes is mostly successful here, I fear that this will be a film that will really interest people who already know about Bob Dylan, and that it will sort of fly over the heads of everyone else. A good movie, and a nice place to start if you're a young movie lover who wants to expand and see something less conventional.