65 Revisited (2007)

Strong and Moving!

Awesome Movie

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This collection of 65-minutes worth of outtakes and musical performances that weren't included in the classic Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back" proves to be just as compelling and substantial as that landmark movie. Director D.A. Pennebaker's stark no-frills fly-on-the-wall approach evokes a bracing sense of raw intimacy and immediacy as we see Dylan and company travel around England, perform songs in concert, and chill out in hotel rooms in between gigs. The concert footage seriously smokes, with Dylan delivering spot-on passionate performances of such terrific songs as "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." Moreover, the scenes with Dylan either harmonizing with Joan Baez on an impromptu song or going shopping for clothes with his entourage show Dylan at his most laidback and likeable. Excellent stuff.

65 Revisited (2007) **** (out of 4) D.A. Pennebaker took outtake footage from his DON'T LOOK BACK to create this 65 minute documentary, which could be called a sequel to that landmark film.Most of the time when you hear outtakes you just think of material that wasn't good enough to make it into the actual movie but that's certainly not the case here and this movie is right on the mark of the original. There's some really fantastic footage here, which includes stuff with Dylan off the stage. One of the highlights is a scene where Dylan and his buddies go shopping. Of course, if you're a die hard Bob Dylan fan you're going to want to hear the music and there are several great concert performances here. It's All Over Now Baby Blue and It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) are just two of the terrific performances captured here.65 REVISITED might as well have been called DON'T LOOK BACK PART TWO. If you're a fan of the original film then this here is certainly a must see.

Another slice of the time capsule is what 65 Revisited comes down to- a capsule from the 'Don't Look Back' documentary, where Pennebaker put his practically objective 16mm lens on Dylan and what might be considered his crossover period (I say 'practically' since it's right before his electric switch, which may or may not had happened on the tour, it might've not, I can't say yet till I listed to the commentary). What's so great about Pennebaker's films of Dylan- this shouldn't be considered any more or less than what DLB gave its audience which was unfiltered Zim up on the screen, is that he has the fly-on-the-wall approach. He's just there, and Dylan is just there (or is he?) and aside from the beautiful acoustic performances given, we see a Dylan- even more in Revisited arguably- jovial and kidding around. A reporter asks him "What will you be doing in the future?" Dylan says, with a grin, "Sleeping, about 60 years." There are also the moments of downtime with Dylan and Joan Baez in a room improvising some folk tunes, or Baez just softly singing as Dylan goes feverish on the typewriter. The structure also goes a way to represent the structure, if there is any, to traveling on the road, one place merging into the next, a long continuous chain. At one point we see Dylan a little ambivalent with fans, but who's to say if he'll meet the same fans when he comes to Birmingham, or Sheffield, or some other small town? Prophet? Probably not, but with something to say and sing and play. It's relatively short, but you get a very cool offering as an extra on the Don't Look Back DVD (or, if you had the chance, for one week only at the IFC in NYC), as there's just a little more added to the plate of Dylan-lore, and a look that strips down, if only a bit, the myth-making that surrounded Dylan in the 60s. It's raw documentary film-making at its best.