026 - Don't look back

Synopsis: Documentary following Bob Dylan on his 1965 UK tour

Director: DA Pennebaker

Actors: Bob Dylan

Date: 1965

How viewed: lovefilm rental

Rating: 4/5

David Meyer says:
Because Pennebaker only had one camera .. this adds to the sense of intimacy, of witnessing a secret life made public. 

I say:

This was initially destined to get a 5/5 score - especially as it kicks off with that fantastic clip of Bob holding up the cue cards for Subterranean Homesick Blues in the alley by the Savoy hotel, with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth in the background, and the first half hour continues with the same ingenuity and at the same pace: arriving at the airport, at press conferences, at hotels, in dressing rooms, and with bold editing of the concert footage (on one occasion all you get is the last line of one song, a bit of fiddling with his harmonica, a bit of re-tuning his guitar, and the first line of the next song). But then in the middle it just flags, there are too many long uninteresting conversations, although it picks up again at the end, and perhaps the best bit is Bob in his dressing room in the moments before going on stage at the Royal Albert Hall - alone for once (except for his manager (Albert Grossman)), silently preparing. Nevertheless it's a great documentary which gets to the heart of what it must have been like for Dylan on that tour, with the chaos, and all the hangers on, and having to answer ridiculous questions from naive reporters. Watch it and see music (and the art of the documentary film) changing before your eyes.