I saw I'm not there yesterday. If you have not heard of it, it is a movie about Bob Dylan where 6 different actors play 6 different aspects of Dylan's personality. Each actor sort of plays him in different time periods of his life. But not exactly. There is a lot of overlap in time periods. And time periods are not defined. It would be more accurate to say each actor plays a different version of Dylan.
Normally when you go see a movie or read a book, you are given a character whose actions you can get to know and rely on. Maybe even feel that you know. The author defines this person for you. Just like when you get to know someone, you are trying to understand them, define them, find out what they believe and what their story is. But no one has just one part that they play.
That is what I loved about the movie. The director didn't try to define time periods for each Dylan. Their scenes were intermixed but still not chronological. It was confusing for a bit, but when you stopped trying to figure out where you were in the plot or in his life, it started to make sense. It was beautiful. Each actor/character/dylan was solid and definable (mostly) in their own scenes and for the people relating to them. But with the stories intermixing (I should also note, each actors Dylan had a different name in honor of people that influenced him. No one was actually Bob Dylan) you had to wrestle with all of these being the same person.
I think that if we all did that more often with the people in our lives we would understand them better. Too often people think, "They did ___. Well maybe they are not who I thought they were."
I know I travel in lots of different circles. And often I think "If these people saw me when I am with those other people they wouldn't know what to think. They would doubt what they 'know' about me." I have been better at trusting people with different sides of myself and usually with great results. But there are still some things you save for certain company. And I'll always be more than one person.
Thats what the movie meant to me. But ask me again tomorrow. I might say something different.
Listening to: De La Soul with Youth - Keepin' The Faith (Just A Touch Edit) So groovy, I couldn't finish the post w/o dancing.
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4 comments:
I am dying to see this! I love Todd Haynes films anyway and the idea of this just makes me swoon.
me too. i'm excited to see it. nice to see you have the de la booming. :)
Sooo... did you make it back/find your vehicle/survive the rest of the weekend? I'm so sorry about the whole thing. Zen hugs.
I liked your comment about how most books/films try and define the character for you.
Sounds like Haynes didn't do that, and I tried to leave a lot open to interpretation in my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. I think you're going to like it.
It's a murder-mystery. But not just any rock superstar is knocking on heaven's door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian, an enigmatic, obtuse, inscrutable, well, you get the picture...
Suspects? Tons of them. The only problem is they're all characters in Bob's songs.
You can get a copy on Amazon.com or go "behind the tracks" at www.bloodonthetracksnovel.com to learn more about the book.
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