Bob Dylan - Dont Look Back (1967)

The Age of Commercialism

Sorry, this movie sucks

People are voting emotionally.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This exceptionally stark and unflinching documentary focusses on Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England when he was at the height of his fame. While there's lots of impressive footage of Dylan singing his poetic songs live, what makes this documentary so striking and startling is the often unflattering way the off-stage Dylan is depicted: He's basically an arrogant, petulant, and self-important little twerp who's rude and dismissive to journalists (Dylan's obnoxious tirade to a hapless reporter from Time magazine is simply priceless!), ignores Joan Baez, treats fans with open contempt, and generally seems quite full of himself. Director D.A. Pennebaker presents a fly on the wall warts'n'all portrait of Dylan that pulls zero punches and scores extra points for its harsh honesty. The raw'n'grainy hand-held cinematography gives the picture a bracing sense of intimacy and immediacy. Moreover, this documentary not only astutely captures just how strenuous and exhausting being on tour in a foreign country can be, but also vividly nails how the pressure of how being a celebrity who's thrust into the limelight at a young age can easily cause a person to implode. Fascinating stuff.

Towards the end of Don't Look Back, a reporter asks a babbling, pretentious, possibly stoned Bob Dylan how much of what he says he actually means. While Dylan blows up at the reporter, the question is central to the movie, which portrays a young, arrogant, brilliant folk singer playing music and arguing with people.At times it all seems like a put on, with Dylan poking and prodding people just to see how they'll react. He let's everyone know that he doesn't really care what anyone thinks, yet at times you can see how concerned he is with his own image. Dylan is contrary, but he has something to say, both in his songs and in moments like a weird argument with some guy about whether Dylan should take an interest in this guy.The movie also has his posse, most notably a young Joan Baez who seems like a lot more fun than her woke-Madonna persona lead me to believe.This is cinema verite, which means it just tosses a bunch of stuff at the viewer and lets them sort it out. Dylan pontificating, Dylan's manager negotiating payment, Dylan on stage, singing almost invariably with less passion than when he's singing offstage. It's an interesting movie, although I'm not sure how interesting one would find it without a preceding interest in Dylan.

Although Dylan, on the whole, still scares me somewhat, and I can't still quite get into his music, I do like D.A. Pennebaker quite a lot, and decided to finally see this. Much like my favorite "concert" film of all time, Depeche Mode 101, Pennebaker doesn't really focus on the music (in this case, Dylan was on tour of England at the time), but focuses on the inner-workings of the tour, and most importantly, on the man himself. Dylan doesn't hold back, and seems comfortable with the camera in front of him as he goes with the day to day operations of being Bob Dylan. There are some nuggets here, Dylan's feelings about Donovan, Dylan gets into a loud argument with an unidentified person about throwing a glass off the hotel balcony. And you also get to see a lot of Joan Baez. Ack. lol. What I dug about this is the whole 60'sness of it all, look at the kids arriving to the concert in their shirts and ties! Such well mannered blokes! Fun film that I wouldn't mind seeing again,

Don't Look Back (1967) **** (out of 4)Marvelous and landmark documentary covering Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of England, which would turn out to be the last time people would see the legend in 100% folk as the next year would see the singer strap on an electric guitar. Since the film was released there's always been some debate on how much of the persona of Dylan here was made up and how much was real. In the interviews I've seen and just knowing as much about him from this period I'd guess that the majority of what goes on here is made up. It seems to me that Dylan is giving a (very good) performance as what a rock star is as we get countless great sequences with the man screaming and shouting but also having fun. The film and Dylan's attitude here has upset a lot of people including Roger Ebert who held a grudge against Dylan up until the Martin Scorsese documentary was released. Many people object to Dylan's treatment of a Time Magazine reporter but I personally don't see anything wrong with it. Reporters were always trying to challenge Dylan so why shouldn't he challenge them right back? Some might even object to Dylan putting down other musicians like Donovan but to me this sequence is just Dylan showing off his humor. The comeback Dylan gives when the reporter asks about Dylan just makes me break down laughing each time I hear it. Not only do we get Donovan here but there's also Joan Baez, Alan Price, Albert Grossman, Bob Neuwirth and Allen Ginsberg of course. As for musical numbers we get quite a few great ones including a passionate performance of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" with Dylan jamming away in his hotel room. We get Dylan and Baez doing duets to two Hank Williams songs, archival footage of Dylan's "Only a Pawn in Their Game" and several songs from his shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Perhaps the greatest and most famous sequence is the very first sequence in the movie as we're treated to Dylan dropping the title cards to his "Subterranean Homesick Blues". I think even non-Dylan fans would get a kick out of this if they are wanting to learn some history about music back in this era. Pennebaker does a remarkable job of just sitting back and letting his camera pick up the action.