May 03, 2005
''It will be a fictional drama that will draw from his life, but it will refract who he is into a cluster of characters played by different actors who will be him, but none of them him. It's probably the most honest way to tell anybody's story, because we look back on our lives and, hopefully, we occupy different selves that have changed and grown and [been] discarded. He's a great example of that. It's the only way to tackle his multiplicity.''
It's been about two years since Todd Haynes revealed that much about his gestating 'biopic' of Bob Dylan, I'm Not There: Suppositions Of A Film Concerning Dylan. First of all, that's a great title. Second of all, Variety announced the cast yesterday: Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Adrien Brody, Richard Gere, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg have all been selected to portray (representations of) Bob Dylan.
I always assumed Haynes would be casting unknowns, but this first-rate star power dashes my preconceived notions of the project - which of course is a good and wonderful thing (there's nothing quite like an idea of what a film might be like to detract from your appreciation of what it actually is). This is the type of film that has a high probability of being great even if it doesn't work completely. If all goes well, according to the trades, it should secure financing at Cannes in a few weeks and be shooting in the fall.
Of minor note: Haynes seems to be taking indirect casting cues for his three male actors from Terence Malick (whose The New World, starring Farrell, should be hitting theaters in December, right around the same time as Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, due December 10, and, hopefully, Van Sant's Last Days).
Also: the conversation between Van Sant and Haynes on the recently released My Own Private Idaho Criterion DVD is very much worth listening to.
And in addition: I was listening to Dylan's 'Time Out Of Mind' last night, which is one of those albums that has the ability to floor me every time I hear it. I'd have no trouble calling it the greatest of all his many records.
Completely unrelated: I'm going to see if I can write my review of Kim Ki Duk's 3-Iron by the time I go to bed this evening. Seeing it was a good way to start what's turning out to be a very busy day.
Posted by David Lowery at May 3, 2005 02:45 PM
Comments
Time out of Mind is certainly the best of his last few albums. I'm one of those that thinks Dylan never truely returned to the heyday of his early years. "Mother I'm Only Bleeding" is never going to leave my top ten.
Dylan, too, was one of those I thought hip-hop variations could be done easily. Subterranean Homesick Blues, or any of his songs that seem more beatnik delivery-wise would work in a rap. If only I could pull it off;)
I'm am looking forward to the movie, for sure. Van Sant's too.
Posted by: atcooper at May 6, 2005 08:04 PM