I'm Not There

Whether they are narrative films or documentaries, most biographies of musicians follow a particular pattern: they deliver the life and career of the protagonist in chronological order, often supported by commentary from people who were there. Or they follow a musician during a tour and go onstage and behind the scenes, such as in D. A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylanbiopic . In the Oscar®-nominated , director Todd Haynes takes a very different approach: he portrays the musical mystery that is Bob Dylan using six different actors, each of whom portrays a part of the troubadour's complex personality. The actors (Heath Ledger, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Ben Whishaw and Cate Blanchett) don't bother trying to look like Dylan – with the exception of the sole female, Cate Blanchett, who bears a striking resemblance to the musician in his younger days – but reveal themselves as the human being, musician, actor and philosopher behind the singer-songwriter. The film is a mixture of fiction and fictionalized documentary, complete with interviews with the main characters and commentary from those around them.