Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Don't Look Back
This documentary is about Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home (1965) tour in England, his tour for the album he released right before Highway 61 Revisited (1966). These two records, as Polizotti writes, mark the moment where he went from folk artist to rock star. Can you see evidence of this transition in the film? Also, what is this Bob Dylan like? How is he similar or different from the Dylan(s) you saw in Todd Haynes' film? What is his relationship w/ the press? And how does he talk about his own music? Do you think he's a good authority on his own music? Or do you think it's better to consult a trained professional critic like Polizotti?
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During Don't Look Back, there were many moments where I could see the transition from Bringing It All Back Home to Highway 61 Revisited. There were a couple clips of Dylan recording his music and some of the strings he'd play sounded like a rough draft of later songs on Highway 61. I believe there was even a writing session where Dylan sings "rolling stone." One of the people in the room calls attention to that phrase and jots it down while Dylan sings the line again.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film, a lot of Bob Dylan's personality is exposed. Dylan comes across as a major jerk. He carries an aura around him that he's the smartest in the room and isn't ashamed to remind everyone of that. He's very off putting to others, especially interviewers, since he isn't afraid to express his thoughts or opinions. I actually admire the way he can take a finger being pointed at him and then bend it back. We see this during the hotel scene with the interviewer can barely get a word out since Dylan is berating him with questions of his own. These actions stem from his annoyance with the press. Since Dylan has the "I'm the smartest in the room attitude," he often detests journalists as being part of a cog in a machine. In Don't Look Back, during his interview with Time, he tells the reporter that Time doesn't print facts because they can't afford to; that if he wanted "real news" he wouldn't pick up Times magazine. The scene with the interviewer reminded me a lot of the press conference scene in Haynes' film I'm Not There. Cate Blanchet embodies the same mannerisms and annoyance that Dylan showed when talking about how he isn't sending a message. Also, I believe that Haynes' made the decision to film the Cate Blanchet depiction of Bob Dylan to pay homage to the black and white videos and photos from the time Dylan was rising to fame.
Bob Dylan, at times, does not seem to be the best authority, since he's constantly deterring questions of his songs. Nonetheless, Bob Dylan is still the main creator and artist, so he holds the most authority. Moreover, I believe in Dylan's ideology; in that he shouldn't have to explain a song because then it becomes two dimensional and flat. I believe that art isn't meant to be dissected to fit people's minds, rather, viewers and lovers of art should form their minds to fit the art. Critics like Polizotti are valid in their interpretations; however, it's not a concrete definition.
Alex: great response here. I'm glad you brought up the Haynes film. Isn't it incredible how much Cate Blanchet looks like the Dylan of this era? It's pretty brilliant that Haynes realized the androgynous quality of Dylan in his youth.
DeleteDylan is absolutely a good authority on his own music. The way he handles the situation after his transition from folk to rock music is the evidence of this. His relation with the journalist is very awkward. As he is a superstar people want to know about him and what he thinks about life or any other issue. He has his own way to connect with people which is not by sharing his concepts in an interview rather talking to his audience through his songs. This attitude is not a common one. It was hard for the journalists to get a simple answer from him. I think at one point the journalists knew that this is the way he interacts with them so they also became stubborn to get what they wanted.
ReplyDeleteI theoretically understand why Dylan is detesting journalists in the film. Journalism is the distribution of events, ideas, or people and journalists have to convey these to people with understandable interpretations and languages. Since journals and articles are for the public, the ideas need to be generalized. Because Dylan has his own way to connect his fans, he basically does not need journalism. Therefore, there is always conflict between Dylan and journalism. In both films, Don't look back and I'm not there, the conflict is depicted similarly. Only the difference is the documentary or the fiction. Haynes's film is a fiction so he can exaggerate a scene, like putting a journalist into the song, Ballad of a Thin Man and to express that the journalist can't explain Dylan because "he doesn't know what it is". Dylan doesn't wanna be pinned him down especially by journalists and maybe nobody is a good authority of Dylan (even Dylan himself) because it is difficult to generalize his ideas or musics. Polizzoti is better than journalists because he is one of Dylan's funs, I believe, and so Polizzoti has his own connection with Dylan that most journalists don't have.
ReplyDeleteGreat response, Koichi. I think it's an important point: Even Dylan shouldn't be completely trusted w/ the interpretation of his songs. He seems to know that which is why he seems uncomfortable talking about them. Also, he is resisting the tendency in the media to simplify.
DeleteI think that this film showed Dylan's relationship with journalist very well. Dylan went into a cha racter when he met with the journalist. Asking them question, making them feel awkward and just not answering there questions. Which to me was very interesting, how he was able to do that with ease. If Dylan explained his music it would take away the meaning in the music and wouldn't give you a chance to think what could this mean. The more you listen to his music and play it, you look for your own meaning each time. The best part is you will never know the exact meaning. Polizzoti to me is a good Analyzer. He w as able to understand Dylan better then other journalists.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Bob Dylan did not like to interact with the public too much especially the press. There were times he was getting a angry with the press. I think he was very open with his opinions and also a little self opinionated. I also hearing him rapping a little in the film.
ReplyDeleteDylan likes to question things, people. he likes to make people question what they think they know and he also likes to keep his lyrics up to various interpretations. I don't know if it is because he thinks that he has the answers or the opposite.his interaction with the first interviewer amusing, he asked him 100 questions back to back and gave the interviewer little chance to ask his own questions, he did not seem too confrontational towards him. he was however, towards the second interviewer. He said that times doesn't talk to his audience. He mentioned how articles have described as a folk artist which he doesn't like. he doesn't like being pigeon-holed maybe especially by people that are not fans of his music
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I saw that was similar to the Haynes film is the part in which Bob Dylan is singing folk music at a farm it seems with a group of African-Americans surrounding him while listening to his music. It was in comparison to the scene in which Christian Bale was singing folk. Also, I noticed that he was very aggressive with the press. I think it was due to the fact that they really didn't understand his persona nor his music.
ReplyDeleteAlso I noticed that the movie talks about Donovan which I think is cool because of the fact that we are going to be watching Goodfellas later on this semester. There is a scene in which Pesci, Liotta, and DeNiro beat up the character Billy Bates and Donovan's song "Atlantis" is playing in the background.
ReplyDeleteNice connection, Henry. I'll put a couple links to his tunes on the blog for those of you not familiar w/ him.
DeleteI see the transition from the beginning to the end of the movie.The start of his career was simpler and less complex. As Bob Dylan becomes more famous it intensifies the mass of reporters who wants to inquire more about this new rock style artists. Bob is the better critic with the authority for his own music, to me the professionals are not depicting the music from Bob Dylan's perspective.
ReplyDeleteit seemed like he was very defensive in all the interviews that he was in. And i found it funny that in some of his interviews he was asking the person who is interviewing him questions.
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