Bob Dylan‘s art always managed to avoid or impress me. A large part of it is that I usually barely understand lyrics sang with all that music going on, but in his case I almost never understand a word. I understand that the lyrics of his songs is more important than that of most pop stars. Another reason I never managed to get interested in him is that he was labeled as a folk artist, a style I was never drawn to. Again, I understand that it is just a label that he helped to expand and break out from, but labels have strong effects and it helped me to keep away from him.
I was not proud of the hole in my knowledge about pop culture so I watched “Don’t Look Back” to fill it. It is a documentary of his 1965 tour in England that came out in 1967. I am sorry to report that he is still not much closer to my heart. I know and can understand more of him: I see him as a human being (as opposed to the distant star image I had built in my mind), he has humor, he has work attic, he has deadpan face, and he could handle human relations even at the young age. But his voice and songs don’t talk to me. In the movie Joan Baez and even Donovan was more interesting to me, because of their voice and style was smoother for my ears. It’s a funny for me to say it after all I listen to a lot of industrial and noise music. But I expect somehow singers sing. I admit Dylan has a fe wcatchy toons, and I do understand some of the lyrics, but didn’t get closer to my heart.
The movie was interestingly shot with its handheld camera technique. The frequent switching between dressing rooms, concerts, on the road situations worked well to build up a dynamic. The shifting focus between Dylan and others also worked well to avoid being too boring. But overall if the subject matter doesn’t interest you then the movie a a whole is not for you. I tried and failed.
P.s. The original review of the movie from the New York Times from 1967 starts this way: “It will be a good joke on us all if, in fifty years or so, Dylan is regarded as a significant figure in English poetry. Not Mr. Thomas, the late Welsh bard, but Bob, the guitar-picking American balladeer.”The predicament came true, more people know Bob’s name tan Thomas’ is. Who is regarded more significant is debatable though, depends who you ask.