Now On DVD: Todd Haynes, I’m Not There

Photo Credit: Circuit City

by Freeman Montaque
05/11/2008

I’m Not There is an eccentric, innovative take on the way movies do biographies. As a result, it is also a film that is likely to alienate people with its somewhat experimental tendencies. But while the movie itself may not necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea, the 2-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD contains a variety of bonus features that should appeal to all.

One reason the film may be seen as unappealing is because there is no real linear, coherent story. Instead, what we get are fragmented pieces of Bob Dylan conveyed through six different characters. The film is basically an in-depth study of those characters and how they evolve, if they do. The first person we’re introduced to is ‘Woody’ (Marcus Carl Franklin], a young African-American boy who’s got a remarkable ear for the blues. Franklin grows on you as the film progresses, even if he comes off as a little too full of himself in the beginning. Next is poet Arthur Rimbaud [Ben Whishaw], who’s interrogated on why he doesn’t write protest songs anymore. Whishaw has the least amount of screen time of the six performers, though he makes the most of it with the equally limited space he’s allotted.

Christian Bale stands out as the awkward, mysterious Jack Rollins, a singer who has definitely got the talent of a music star but not the persona. While he doesn’t look quite like Dylan, Bale nails the idiosyncratic mannerisms, arguably better than anyone else in the film. The late great Heath Ledger is likewise outstanding in his turn as Robbie, an actor whose relationship with his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) begins to come undone. You can tell from the moment we’re first introduced to his character that Ledger is completely into what he’s doing, and it makes it that much more entertaining to watch him. Richard Gere’s Billy is by the far the most unusual of the characters, appearing as someone who may have moseyed in from a western. For Dylan fans, there may be an obvious explanation as to why the character is presented the way he is here, but I personally couldn’t figure it out. His character doesn’t bother me, but I can’t tell you where the inspiration came from.

Last but not least is Cate Blanchett’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Jude, the character who looks the most like Dylan. It seems that Haynes wants us to be the most blown away by her performance, not just because of the surprisingly similar look but also because of how her character’s introduced. Unlike the others, who are just shown to us, Jude is presented after much high anticipation and anxiety. The editing is constructed in such a way that it feels (and sounds) like a heartbeat of a fan readying themselves for a big show, not unlike how you would feel at a concert. Unsurprisingly, Blanchett is phenomenal in her turn, so Haynes’ efforts are not in vain. However, if I were to pluck just a single performance from the film as the one that had me hanging on every word and every gesture, I would pick Bale.

The first disc of the DVD includes the feature, sneak peaks to other films, audio commentary by Todd Haynes, and an option to view the film with on-screen song lyrics. Also included is a section labeled “An Introduction to the Film.” This is not the director introducing the film to us before the feature begins. Instead, what this is four different segments, two of which (“Who’s Not There: Six Faces of Dylan,” “Decoding an Entertaining Enigma”) offer up brief backstory on the inspiration of the characters and how they’re introduced. The other two sections (“Tangled Up in Clues by Ann Powers,” “Notes on I’m Not There by Greil Marcus”} are essentially film reviews.

The second disc is where you really get your money’s worth. The first tab is a trailer gallery that includes the first theatrical trailer for the film, a second, more extensive trailer, and a previously unreleased flash card trailer (“Subterranean Homesick Blues”). This is a series of mini-trailers broken down into eight parts where the main cast holds up flash cards to a Bob Dylan song.

Next is “From the Edit Room.” Here we find audition tapes for Franklin and Whishaw, two deleted scenes, four extended song segments, and outtakes, which aren’t really that funny because the scenes are cut so quickly, you barely have time to see what there is to laugh at. Still, how often do dramas include gag reels? The last part of this section is “A Tribute to Heath Ledger,” a tasteful 3-minute montage of Ledger in scenes from the film and a few of him on the set.

“Look Back” contains footage from the New York red carpet premiere, a “Making the Soundtrack” featurette, and conversations with Todd Haynes about frequently asked questions, like where the title for the film came from.

The last feature on the bonus disc is titled “Dylanography,” a collection of papers and photos. Among them are the one-page proposal Haynes sent to Dylan in order to get his approval, the director’s notebook (rough sketches of storyboard ideas), and still galleries of each of the six main performers beautifully photographed as they appeared in the film and in between takes.

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