stop making sense

Tonight I went to a philosophy symposium on the topic of love. The speakers were mildly entertaining--the exception being, of course, Professor Kingwell--who was in characteristically fine form. Before beginning proper he reminded us that traditional symposiums involve drinking, and, on the pretense, presumed to pull a flask out of his pocket, sipping it back for the course of his discussion. It was charmingly audacious, irresistibly admirable even. That and his exceptional discussion, which I do not have the time to sketch out, reminded me how lucky I am to be able to participate in such matters.

Afterwards (alone), I went to see the new Bob Dylan-based biopic I'm Not There. It was everything I'd heard; in short, brilliant, although I can certainly see why some might not find it very appealing. First of all, if you're not acquainted with both key earlier Dylan documentaries (Scorsese's No Direction Home, and Pennebaker's Don't Look Back), you will miss a number of key details, since much of the film is in fact a direct imitation of scenes from these two documentaries. Also, if you're expecting a classic documentary aiming at some truthful or accurate portrayal of Dylan, this (again) may not be up your alley. I'm Not There is an eccentric, creative analysis of "Bob Dylan" the concept: it leans heavily on the poetic, presenting a number of mini narratives all loosely based on some aspect of Dylan's life. It emphasizes, above all, the notion of identity self-division (hence the various Dylan 'personae' that each represent a significant fiber of his 'person'). The outcome is a fictional film that comes paradoxically closer to the 'truth' of Dylan's identity than its predecessors, precisely by emphasizing the inability to capture any singular Dylan identity. And this is not inconsistent with the attitudes and actions of Dylan himself, who has always told one story: namely that there is only story, an irreducible story, with many actors and players, whatever we may like to say otherwise.

That being said, I won't deny that I'm Not There is a film for a very particular breed of Dylan fanatic. It isn't without irony that this film will garner more attention from twenty-something postmodern bohemians then the generation of fans that once claimed Dylan as their own. But director Todd Haynes must have known this. It's a pretentious film, for a (let's face it) pretentious artist, geared towards a pretentious public. But those interested will not leave the theatre without many rewards.