May 03, 2005
Bob Dylan biopic with seven leads?
This is quite a strange premise, and will certainly be an interesting movie to watch, a Bob Dylan biography movie with seven characters playing different aspects of his character from different times in his life. How weird does that sound? Weird, but very attractive. Even more so when you see the list of actors currently involved, there are six signed on at the moment. The list from Rope of Silicon from Variety:
Variety is reporting quite the bit of casting news as director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) has before him names such as Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Adrien Brody, Richard Gere, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg for a Bob Dylan biography.The deals are not exactly firm but are expected to be finalized during the Cannes Film Festival.
What a list that is, and you can already see the idea forming when you see the different personalities of the actors involved. Three females? That's not the only interesting aspect of the casting, apparently the seventh is supposed going to be a black actor. This has got to be one of the most interesting projects I've heard about to date, and it's going to make for a really interesting piece of film making, never mind marketing! Has anyone else been bitten by this idea?
Posted by Richard Brunton at May 3, 2005 08:55 AM
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Comments
Posted by: Pudie at May 3, 2005 10:03 AM
I think this sounds fascinating. I like Haynes' work and I'm a huge Dylan fan (and with this and the Scorsese film in the works, things are pretty promising for Dylan fans right now..), but I never would have thought of the combination. As for the multiple casting idea, I'm not it's been done before on the same scale (Bunuel only used two actresses in "Obscure Object of Desire", but it's kind of an interesting reversal of the one-actor-in-multiple-roles bit...
Posted by: Robert at May 3, 2005 11:05 AM
And Palindromes is being blasted critically for this technique....However, I thought Palindromes was an excellent film being unfairly lambasted...
Posted by: Triflic at May 3, 2005 11:56 AM
The problem with this kind of technique (it's not atypical to see this done for off-broadway indie type of stage plays) is that, well, it can come across as very pretentious, and sanctimonious.
So Bob Dylan also has the soul of a female, African-American (among others)? Okay. What a worldly man of the people. (rolls eyes)
Posted by: Franklin at May 3, 2005 12:38 PM
"And Palindromes is being blasted critically for this technique"
Really? All the reviews I've rad have said it works pretty damn good.
Posted by: Pudie at May 3, 2005 12:45 PM
Go to Rotten tomatoes..46% rating, main gripes from the negatives is the multiple-character technique.
Posted by: Triflic at May 3, 2005 12:59 PM
Go to Rotten tomatoes..46% rating, main gripes from the negatives is the multiple-actor technique.
Posted by: Triflic at May 3, 2005 01:28 PM
Interesting. I also don't think it would work because Dylan is a real person , he's recognizable. Having 7 people playing him just wouldn't work at all.
Posted by: Pudie at May 3, 2005 03:26 PM
Don't forget the fact that he's still alive and producing as a musician. Any biopic made on him would be missing that one crucial element: his death. If it were me I'd wait until a year or two after his death. It seems too much like hey're just trying to duplicate Ray, and bank on the fact that Dylan just wrote the first part of his autobiography.
Dylan's actually playing in my town towards the end of may. I've heard good things (well, interesting things at least) about his stage shows.
Posted by: It's Seitz at May 3, 2005 09:11 PM
Wait wait wait......they are all playing Dylan? WTF? Todd Solondz is doing this right now with Palindromes. Lame.