NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN- A Martin Scorsese Picture DISC 1 (2005)

Cast

Plot

A long time a-comin... This much anticipated ode to Dylan received much hype before its release and precipitated a resurgence in the Great Man's popularity. The film focuses pretty much exclusively on Dylans career from his folky Hibbing beginnings to his controversial UK tour in 1966, where he was deemed to have shunned his faithful followers by playing an audacious vivacious electric rhythm 'n' blues set. There are numerous nuggets of gold littering the documentary, some coming from Bob, some from his compatriots and some from his spurned fan base. At one point, when asked about his decision to snub Joan Baez at one concert, he declares with wry solemnity 'You can't be wise and in love at the same time...' At another point we see Bob outside a high street store scatting an improvised reordering of the services the shop offers ('I wanna cash my bird, wash my cheque, bank my shoes...'). The interviews with the man himself though are taken from a prerecorded session from 2000, where he was given free reign to talk about what he wanted, giving the documentary a somewhat shambling focus... Appropriate to a 'song and dance' chameleon like Dylan though. Unmissable. Puts Dylan in a richer context than the classic Don't Look Back.