IMDb > I'm Not There. (2007)
I'm Not There.
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

I'm Not There. (2007) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 61 | slideshow) Videos (see all 20)
I'm Not There. (2007) -- I'm Not There - Trailer
I'm Not There. (2007) -- YouTube/TVWire.TV - Marcus Carl Franklin 1:1 NY interview [Staci Wilson] (Flash)
I'm Not There. (2007) -- Heath Ledger, Bruce Greenwood and director Todd Haynes discuss their new movie, "I'm Not There," which is about the life and work of Bob Dylan.  Michele Jarchin reports.
I'm Not There. (2007) -- Trailer 2
I'm Not There. (2007) -- Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   20,395 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Todd Haynes (screenplay) &
Oren Moverman (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for I'm Not There. on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 November 2007 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
All I Can Do Is Be Me Whoever That Is
Plot:
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations more
User Comments:
Amazing! (Dylan's not there) more (211 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
I'm Not There (Germany) (USA) (poster title)
I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity.
Runtime:
135 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Todd Haynes never met Bob Dylan. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the sequence when Robbie and Claire buy the motorcycle, Robbie gets out of the car to sit on the motorcycle and even though he locks the car, he leaves the headlights on. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Narrator: There he lies. God rest his soul, and his rudeness. A devouring public can now share the remains of his sickness, and his phone numbers. There he lay: poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, star of electricity. Nailed by a peeping tom, who would soon discover...
Jude: A poem is like a naked person...
Narrator: - even the ghost was more than one person.
Arthur: ...but a song is something that walks by itself.
more
Movie Connections:
References Serpico (1973) more
Soundtrack:
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Caroll more

FAQ

I don't understand why all the actors who play Dylan have different names. Someone explain this to me.
What does the title mean?
more
85 out of 111 people found the following comment useful.
Amazing! (Dylan's not there), 18 November 2007
9/10
Author: Mick Gold from London

This film amazed me. One reason it worked for me is because it's drenched in Dylan's music. I wasn't expecting that. Most of the time, it's Dylan's voice when 'Blind Willie McTell' or 'Moonshiner' or 'Idiot Wind' (the slow, acoustic version) suddenly erupt on the sound track to huge emotional effect. Other times instrumental teasers from 'Man In The Long Black Coat' or 'Nashville Skyline Rag' are planted in the mix like fragments of dreams you can't quite focus on. All the pre-release publicity had revolved around Cate Blanchett is girl Dylan! and Marcus Carl Franklin is African American boy Dylan! but the film itself unfolds like a kaleidoscopic dream where the pieces never quite meet. A bit like me and all my friends scratching our heads in the 1960s and 1970s and earnestly wondering how John Wesley Harding related to Blonde On Blonde, or how Slow Train Coming related to Blood On the Tracks. Well they don't. In "Chronicles, Volume One" Dylan dwells on the moment when he stumbled across Rimbaud's declaration "Je est un autre" which translates into English: "I is someone else". Dylan writes: "When I read those words the bells went off. It made perfect sense. I wish someone would have mentioned it to me earlier." That insight has sustained Dylan thru all his multiple personalities, finger pointing folkie, rock & roll rebel, Nashville good ol' boy (Oh me oh my, love that country pie), tormented lover, Born Again Christian. When he performed on his first album, aged 21, he was trying to summon up the voice of a 60 year old blues singer.

That insight sustains this movie because Haynes and his team have been able to match a visual style to each image of Dylan's life. From the burnt out black & white textures of 'Fellini's 8½' which seem to lock Blanchett inside an amphetamine-fuelled bubble of superstardom to the mellow colour photography of 'McCabe and Mrs Miller' which frames Richard Gere. I was surprised by the long Gere sequence. He seems like a recluse in the backwoods but all these strange characters and circus animals roll past, capturing the mood of those bizarre Basement Tape songs: 'Please Mrs. Henry', 'Open The Door Homer'. It seems to be set in a realm that Greil Marcus called 'The Old, Weird America'. And there's a visionary flash where Gere peers into the landscape and has a glimpse of Vietnam. It made perfect sense to me. There's a moment in the Sing Out! interview with Dylan in 1968 (when Dylan was secluded in Woodstock) when Happy Traum asked Dylan "Why don't you speak out against the Vietnam War?" and Dylan replied: "That really doesn't exist. It's not for or against the war. I'm speaking of a certain painter and he's all for the war. He's ready to go over there himself. And I can comprehend him. People just have their own views. Anyway, how do you know that I'm not, as you say, for the war?" When Charlotte Gainsbourg (who seems to be playing a composite of Suze Rotolo and Sara Dylan) suddenly drops the divorce settlement into Heath Ledger's lap, the film cuts to newsreel shots of Henry Kissinger and Lo Duc Tho signing the Vietnam ceasefire accords in Paris. This film isn't a biopic, this film works in a free association surreal way, like Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, or Highlands works. It's true to the spirit of one of Dylan's greatest songs, a song which goes places where no words can go, a song which gives this film its title: "Now, when I keep believing I was born to love her /But she knows that the kingdom waits so high above her /And I run but I race, but it's not too fast or slow /But I don't deceive her. I'm not there, I'm gone...

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (211 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for I'm Not There. (2007)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Bale's performance tommason71
Richard Gere Pawn12
Todd Haynes' Jackie Jormp Jomp (with potential spoilers) Mrobbins21
Song help. . . . . three_eyed_denim
Ledger was better RKelly-1
Please Help...possible spoilers.... nogo-3
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Factory Girl Across the Universe Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Sid and Nancy 24 Hour Party People
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Biography section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.