I'M NOT THERE (2007) - Todd Haynes

When is a biopic not a biopic? The answer is when it’s Todd Haynes’ examination of the life and experiences of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. Dylan is one of, if not, the greatest songwriter of all time. As well as writing some of the greatest songs ever sung, Dylan’s life has seen the singer go through many different personas. After emerging as the great poster boy of 60’s folk music, enlightening a generation to social problems, alienating a great many of his folk fans by switching to electric guitar, to his ‘rebirth’ as a Christian, Dylan’s life would make for a pretty packed straight biopic. But Haynes departs from the conventional biopic and presents Dylan’s many personas through a number of different characters. This is not Walk The Line.

As mentioned, I’m Not There concentrates on six different characters, each of which personify either Dylan at a different time of his life, or an aspect of his life. Firstly we have Marcus Carl Franklin who plays an eleven year old boy by the name of Woodie Guthrie (after the folk singer and inspiration for the real Dylan) who travels the south in box cars, singing songs and spouting wisdom far beyond his years. Christian Bale plays Jack Rollins, a protesting folk-singer who turns his back on music in favour of devotion to God. Heath Ledger is Robbie Clark, an actor who makes his break playing Jack Rollins in a biopic of the singer. Ben Whishaw is Arthur Rimbaud who answers questions in front of what seems to be some sort of panel of agents. Cate Blanchett portrays Jude Quinn, who is the personification of Dylan we’ll be most familiar with. Quinn has just arrived in Britain to hoardes of fans, accusations of selling out, and more drugs than he can handle. And finally, Richard Gere plays Billy the Kid who has turned his back on society to live a life in solitude in some sort of anachronistic version of the old west.



As much an examination of what a biopic is as a study of Dylan’s life, I’m Not there mixes many different styles and techniques as it presents each story. For example, the segment about Jack Rollins is shot as a documentary that is a retrospective of Rollins’ life. Where as, the segment about Jude Quinn is more what would be expected from a conventional biopic. Haynes mixes up the stories and cuts back and forth between each character. The result is we never quite know what time period we’re in, and where things are happening. The Quinn part being the only sure part of the film since that period in Dylan’s career is probably the most famous. We see Quinn’s first live performance using an electric guitar, something that horrifies his fans and spills over to the tour of Britain he undertakes where cries of ‘Judas!’ are heard from the crowd.

In biopics, the performances of the actors portraying the real life person is always going to be under the most scrutiny. Having six actors portray the same person, or an aspect of that person does make for an incredibly interesting experience. Yet it’s not like you spend the film thinking ‘well, that actor is more the Dylan I know than that actor.’ In fact, every performance in the film is excellent, whether it’s one of the six central actors, or a member of the supporting cast. One of the best performances in the film comes from Bruce Greenwood, who plays Keenan Jones, a BBC journalist who personifies all the journalists who attacked Dylan for turning his back on humanity and the plight of his fellow man when he made the change from folk to electric. Greenwood also plays and aged Pat Garrett, the arch nemesis of Billy the Kid, who wants to destroy the town the Kid has come to love after turning his back on his former outlaw life.



However, the performance that is getting the most attention, and deservedly so, is Cate Blanchett, who plays Jude Quinn. Aside from the fact that Blanchett is a woman portraying a man, she also becomes a version of Dylan that is instantly recognisable. Anyone who’s seen Martin Scorsese’s brilliant No Direction Home will recognise what Blanchett has achieved when they see the footage of Dylan in Britain in the 60’s. Not only is Blanchett brilliant at portraying this pastiche of Dylan, she also puts in a brilliant performance of a singer at the height of his fame, and how the excesses, and his own personality are slowly destroying him physically. Blanchett’s scenes with Bruce Greenwood, and the moments with David Cross as beat poet Allen Ginsberg are among the highlights of the film.

It’s needless to say that the soundtrack is fantastic. Haynes doesn’t just go for the instantly recognisable songs from Dylan’s vast catalogue throughout the film. Of course, anyone vaguely familiar with Dylan’s music will recognise some of the bigger hits. However, Haynes also employs a number of artists to cover Dylan’s songs throughout the film. The characters sing Dylan’s songs, but sung by different artists. There are Dylan-sung Dylan songs in there, but by the cover versions add a refreshing twist to the film, and suit the scenes perfectly.

Of course the question begs, is there anything for non-Dylan fans in this film? While I’ll admit, being a Dylan fan, and having knowledge of his life certainly did add something to the film, I think there’s plenty to allow non-fans in. Like I said, I’m Not There is very different to the likes of Walk The Line. It’s certainly a more art-house film, and in no way a conventional biopic. But for someone as enigmatic as Dylan, it’s the perfect way to take a look at his life.


9/10

KINSEY (2004) - Bill Condon

Bill Condon's biopic, Kinsey, is a study of Professor Alfred Kinsey, an Indiana University teacher who embarked on the largest study of human sexual behavior ever undertaken. Kinsey was an entomologist, known for his studies of the gall wasp. He marries one of his students, Clara McMillen, and after a disaterous wedding night, Kinsey finds his true calling in life. The study and documentation of human sexual behavior. It's a controversial subject to take on in 1950's America, due to it's explicit nature. However, Kinsey approaches the subject from a very matter of fact point of view.

Kinsey sets about interviewing as much of the population of the United States as he can. He puts his subjects at ease, which makes them very open. And his findings, while frank and honest, are quite difficult for some people to digest. Kinsey's study becomes an obsession for him, putting him at odds with not just the newspapers, but also those close to him. However, he soldiers on, determained to create as detailed a study as he can.



Director Condon takes a very linear approach with this biopic, a method that is quite refreshing considering how some directors try to jazz up the flat nature of the biopic with directorial and structural tricks which can actually detract from the subject matter. There's a lot to cover, as Condon pretty much examines the entirety of Kinsey's life, from boyhood to old age. His cast, led by Liam Neeson as Alfred Kinsey and Laura Linney as Clara McMillen are key to carrying the story, and all performances (including a brilliant cameo by John Lithgow) are spot on. Naturally, the subject matter is in itself quite fascinating, but handled incorrectly, Kinsey could have been quite a boring film. However, Alfred Kinsey is a flawed man, and Condon doesn't shy away from this. Kinsey's single mindedness and his scientific approach to nearly all aspects of life makes him a little aloof and cold, but he's an interesting, if somewhat unknown character, at least in my generation. A very interesting subject matter handled very well.


7/10

LA VIE EN ROSE (2007) - Olivier Dahan

Biopics of famous musicians seem to be a sure thing for filmmakers these days. After chronicling the lives of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Ray Charles in Ray, we now have the life of Edith Piaf presented to us by Olivier Dahan in La Vie En Rose. La Vie En Rose is a biopic with subtitles, no less, which isn't really surprising as Piaf is probably France's most famous export after cheese and surrendering.
I walked into this film knowing a little about Piaf. Her most famous song, Non, je ne regrette rien, is instantly recognisable, and is a fantastic song, but other than this, and one or two semi-familiar songs, I was a newcomer. Piaf was born to poor parents. Her father was a circus contortionist, and spent time in the French army in the First World War. Her mother struggled as a singer, singing for pennies on the streets. Piaf spent time with her grandmother, who was the madame of a whorehouse. She lived briefly with her father in the circus. She was discovered and made famous throughout France. Went to the US and hit the big time after an encounter with Marlene Dietrich. She fell in love, became addicted to drugs and then came her downfall.



Pretty brief description of the life of Edith Piaf, not doing her immense talent justice. But being brief is all I feel like being after the extremely long and drawn out biopic I just witnessed. If the movie is true to what actually happened, Piaf's life was pretty tragic. While she was very talented, her penchant for drink and drugs took it's toll on her body and killed her before her time. She seems to have been a very flamboyant character, and actress Marion Cotillard certainly gives it socks playing the singer. The actor is the key to the biopic's success, and Cotillard is excellent as Piaf. However, the film suffers from a screenplay that jumps about in time and takes forever to get through the story. We see Piaf as an old lady, a child, a middle-aged woman, a teenager, an old woman again, then in her twenties, and so on and so on. I understand Dahan probably didn't want to do a straightforward biopic, but the jumps in time make the film a little difficult to sit through. And because of this, we also get the impression that huge chunks of Piaf's life are ignored. People jump in and out of the story without any introduction, and you're left wondering who these people are and where they've come from.



While certainly not as good as James Mangold's Walk the Line, La Vie En Rose is certainly an interesting portrait of an artist I barely know about. However, due to some dodgy scripting and directing, the film will certainly test some audience members. But Cotillard's powerhouse performance is definitely worth checking out.

6/10