Is Scorsese winking at us in the Dylan doc: No Direction Home ?

[KurtNYC]

Scorsese is a master story teller and easily one of the best analysts of films and cinematic technique. I watched both halves of "Bob Dylan: No Direction Home" (2005) on Hulu over the weekend and it haunts me.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/369243

Marty uses one of Dylan's 1966 UK concerts as a wrap around, he previews the end of the early Dylan before he starts telling the earlier part of the story. The audience is angry that Dylan no longer wants to perform his acoustic folk songs and he instead wails in his characteristic way to angry electric blues.

Then he goes back to the start: Robert Zimmerman, a little jewish kid in a small mining town in Minnesota. Scorsese highlights certain parts of Dylan's back story as when Bob talks about the carnival that came through town and how he became fascinated with the freak show and specifically the guy who ran the ferris wheel who recreates himself and also performs in the freak show. Another tidbit: Dylan talks about his first trip into NYC and playing in the basket houses in Greenwich Village. Poetry readings and weird arty performances are staged mostly for tourists and the job of the bands is to "clear the house." van Ronk or Dylan says "you played 3 songs and if there was anyone left at the end of the third song you were fired."

Dylan stole a bunch of Woody Gutherie records from a friend and immersed himself in them. Shortly thereafter Dylan goes in seach of Gutherie and finds him commited to a mental institution, in Dylan's words "because he had the shakes." It is hard to tell exactly how disturbing this was to Dylan but he says he never went back to visit Gutherie again in spite of what seems to be mutual respect between the two. Scorsese has told us earlier in the film about how folk music was crushed by the 1950s McCarthyism and it seems implied that Gutherie is treated as "crazy" at least in part because of his politics.

To me, Scorsese is laying the background here for the idea that Dylan knows he is playing with fire. He seems to want the power of the music and the words but he shies away from the actual politics and claims repeatedly that he wasn't doing topical music. Dylan also says he loved the idea that a good performer has this air about them and look in their eye that says 'I know something you don't'. Dylan also mentions Robert Johnson and the crossroads. His friends say that Dylan came back from New York a changed person.

Dylan writes some of the most incredible lyrics of the century -- "Blowin' in the Wind", "The Times They Are A Changin'" and "Hard Rain." As these songs are adopted by the Civil Rights movement and the others, Dylan gets elevated to the status of prophet. A year later with his career peaking Dylan is asked ridiculous questions by journalists and the world seems bent on making him a political figure but Dylan is having none of it. Joan Baez relates how she played every march and event and people would always ask 'is Bob coming?' "They didn't get it."

Dylan parts with Baez and brings in the Paul Butterfield Blues band. The audience he attracted with acoustic folk songs is angered by this turn. Scorsese seems to be leading us right up to the threshold but Dylan and the film don't really say it directly -- Dylan adored Woody Gutherie and the power of his music but when he was put in the same position it scared him. Dylan knew from Greenwich Village how to "clear the house" and he does that. Loud guitars and loud distorted annoying vocals seem designed to repel the folk music crowd (and many others). "Like A Rolling Stone" is Dylan teasing and taunting the crowd that insisted he become some kind of messiah when all he wanted to do was write and perform meaningful music.

I would enjoy your thoughts and your take on this film and this subject.

[cbdo2007]

1. I think as Bob's career has progressed, he has changed like all artists do....

and wants to perform and record the kind of music he's interested in at that time. Don't think there's a lot of thought behind it. He wrote popular folk songs at the beginning to get popular and fit in with his peers, while still mastering his art. Once he mastered it, he moved on to more complex thoughts and ideas, which still have the political undertone, but don't say it outright because that's where the art comes in. He learned that artistic intepretation is with the listener and that different ideas mean different things to different people.

Haven't seen the film for a few years but it is an excellent Dylan documentary.

[KurtNYC]

2. rewatched the first part

Joan Baez was awesome.