I'm Not There.

I just finished watching this movie. It's really different. Stylistically it was a bit like an Oliver Stone movie, with different story lines in black & white, color, and that Kodachrome look of a 60's 8mm. The script was sparse in a way I love, almost as if it were a play. Some many of the lines were in just one shot so incisive and painfully, brilliantly sad. I think Cate Blanchett had some of the best. In one scene she's heckling a crucifix in front of a church with David Cross (who is playing Allen Ginsburg) and she says, "Do your early stuff!" She is really phenomenal. Heath Ledger also is great, and so much of his role is non-verbal. He's so good it's sad. Sad because he's gone. Sad because it seems so much of what he's doing shows the really dark place he must have been in. There are two scenes where he angrily swats at press photographers and it just reminded me of the pitiful and tragic drama that played out outside of his apartment building. The world Richard Gere occupies during the film is great for it's use of that whole P@TD!/"steampunk" whimsy. The film takes Dylan's music out of it's original context, in some places using cover versions, and puts it in a new context where it seems to fit exactly as if it were written for them. It is really amazing. The cinematography reminds me of a Goodfellas, because every shot is just so beautifully composed. At times it's almost like watching a moving album cover. Having five actors and an actress all play (versions of) the same man in what is essentially six different movies could have ended up making a cutesy "aren't I so clever" picture, but it really really works. This is probably because none of the "dylans" are forced or over the top impressions of the man. Each of the six managed to adopt different recognizable characteristics from Dylan, allowing them all to remain recognizable individual pieces, and because none of them clung too tightly to the raspy, iconic, instantly recognizable voice. I hope I like Shine a Light this much.