In the film "Dont Look Back," D.A. Pennebaker takes us on his overseas journey with Bob Dylan.
In the film "Dont Look Back," D.A. Pennebaker takes us on his overseas journey with Bob Dylan. Dylan was touring London for three weeks in 1965 experiencing his first major star mania. At the same time, Pennebaker was shooting cinema verite for the first time. The innovative techniques he used in the film mirror the innovation that was taking place in popular music at the time, primarily led by Dylan. This film captures a multi-layered portrait of a young Dylan at a crucial time in his career and our own music history. "Dont Look Back" provides a rare opportunity to view a music legend like a close personal friend at a time when he was developing his own personal style and learning how to be a rockstar.
D.A. Pennebaker allows us as viewers on the outside, perhaps not knowing anything about Dylan, to sit in on intimate moments such as conversations between Dylan and his friends, interviews and composing music on the spot. He does this in such a way that he blends in with the crowd and is part of the party. As an audience member, you almost feel like you're on the road with Dylan. All the while, Pennebaker's avant-garde technique is capturing Dylan's every moment. In the vast majority of scenes, Dylan comes across as a pompous asshole. Pennebaker portrays this through several different sequences by not only showing him talking insolently at reporters and journalists, but also to teeny bopper girls and a science student. One moment, he is friendly to some young fans and in another moment he swiftly cuts down a reporter. In one interview, Dylan calls himself a "delightful sort of person", but often in this film he is seen as just the opposite.
When someone is as famous as Bob Dylan, people assume that they know what that person is like. Because of this phenomena, the famous often adopt personas or put up fronts. I felt that there were instances in which Dylan was putting up a front, and acting cynical and jaded. I felt this way because there were also instances in which he seemed to show his true feelings. There is a scene toward the end of the film in which Dylan and others are riding in a car. Dylan reveals his pure emotion, commenting that he felt he had just been "part of something special," but then quickly changes to his cynical persona when told the press is calling him an anarchist. You can even tell that Dylan has a buzz from the performance just by looking at him. He seems almost gidddy and upbeat for one of the first times and then goes back into trying to maintain the cool "I'm in control" mood. Pennebaker does a prodigious job of showing us Dylan's personal side in only very brief moments. For example, there is a part just before Dylan is to go onstage and he and Alan Price and a few others are goofing around and playing piano. Dylan just in regular conversation casually asks Price if he's still playing with The Animals. Price looks down and says, "It happens....ya know," and tries to nonchalantly brush it off, but we see him biting at his tongue. The moment is almost frozen in time the way Pennebaker shoots it. Pennebaker then gets a marvelous shot of Dylan reflecting sincerely with a kind of uneasy, sympathetic look. The first few times I watched this film, I completely missed that amazing scene and it wasn't until I heard the commentary that I truly saw what a powerful few seconds that was.
D.A. Pennebaker allows us as viewers on the outside, perhaps not knowing anything about Dylan, to sit in on intimate moments such as conversations between Dylan and his friends, interviews and composing music on the spot. He does this in such a way that he blends in with the crowd and is part of the party. As an audience member, you almost feel like you're on the road with Dylan. All the while, Pennebaker's avant-garde technique is capturing Dylan's every moment. In the vast majority of scenes, Dylan comes across as a pompous asshole. Pennebaker portrays this through several different sequences by not only showing him talking insolently at reporters and journalists, but also to teeny bopper girls and a science student. One moment, he is friendly to some young fans and in another moment he swiftly cuts down a reporter. In one interview, Dylan calls himself a "delightful sort of person", but often in this film he is seen as just the opposite.
When someone is as famous as Bob Dylan, people assume that they know what that person is like. Because of this phenomena, the famous often adopt personas or put up fronts. I felt that there were instances in which Dylan was putting up a front, and acting cynical and jaded. I felt this way because there were also instances in which he seemed to show his true feelings. There is a scene toward the end of the film in which Dylan and others are riding in a car. Dylan reveals his pure emotion, commenting that he felt he had just been "part of something special," but then quickly changes to his cynical persona when told the press is calling him an anarchist. You can even tell that Dylan has a buzz from the performance just by looking at him. He seems almost gidddy and upbeat for one of the first times and then goes back into trying to maintain the cool "I'm in control" mood. Pennebaker does a prodigious job of showing us Dylan's personal side in only very brief moments. For example, there is a part just before Dylan is to go onstage and he and Alan Price and a few others are goofing around and playing piano. Dylan just in regular conversation casually asks Price if he's still playing with The Animals. Price looks down and says, "It happens....ya know," and tries to nonchalantly brush it off, but we see him biting at his tongue. The moment is almost frozen in time the way Pennebaker shoots it. Pennebaker then gets a marvelous shot of Dylan reflecting sincerely with a kind of uneasy, sympathetic look. The first few times I watched this film, I completely missed that amazing scene and it wasn't until I heard the commentary that I truly saw what a powerful few seconds that was.
