No Direction Home: Bob Dylan 

A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Stars:

Bob Dylan, B.J. Rolfzen, Dick Kangas

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 8 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Bob Dylan	...	Self
B.J. Rolfzen	...	Self (voice)
Dick Kangas	...	Self
Liam Clancy	...	Self
Anthony Glover	...	Self (as Tony Glover)
Paul Nelson	...	Self
Allen Ginsberg	...	Self (archive footage)
Dave Van Ronk	...	Self (archive footage)
Maria Muldaur	...	Self
John Cohen	...	Self
Bruce Langhorne	...	Self
Mark Spoelstra	...	Self
Suze Rotolo	...	Self
Izzy Young	...	Self
Mitch Miller	...	Self

Storyline

He is one of the most influential, inspiration and ground-breaking musicians of our time. Now, Academy Award(TM) winning director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, 1990) brings us the extraordinary story of Bob Dylan's journey from his roots in Minnesota, to his early days in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village, to his tumultuous ascent to pop stardom in 1966.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | interview | performance | folk rock | archive footage | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The black cylindrical case that Allen Ginsberg was resting his hand upon during his interview was a Manfrotto camera tripod case the crew brought along with them for the interview.

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Goofs

When A&R man John Hammond is introduced, Billie Holiday, whom Hammond signed to Columbia Records, is heard singing the anti-lynching protest song "Strange Fruit." In truth, Hammond did not allow Holiday to record "Strange Fruit" for Columbia; she recorded the song for Milt Gabler's Commodore Records instead.

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Quotes

Reporter: How many people who major in the same musical vineyard in which you toil, how many are protest singers? That is, people who use their music, and use the songs to protest the uh, social state in which we live today, the matter of war, the matter of crime, or whatever it might be.
Bob Dylan: Um... how many?
Reporter: Yes. How many?
Bob Dylan: Uh, I think there's about uh, 136.
[People around him giggle. The reporter doesn't laugh]
Reporter: You say ABOUT 136, or you mean exactly 136?
Bob Dylan: Uh, it's either 136 or 142.

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Connections

Features America's Music: The Roots of Country (1996)

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Soundtracks

It Ain't Me, Babe
Written by Bob Dylan
Performed by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez
Courtesy of Columbia Records
by arrangement with Sony BMG

User Reviews

Fascinating, but...

Fascinating, but when the film was over I didn't really understand Dylan's genius to any greater degree than I had before. How did he go from being just another musician on the folk revival scene (as Paul Wilson observes, "(Dylan) wasn't the best, he wasn't the worst", and he had the same basic repertoire as his contemporaries) to writing songs like 'Masters of War', 'Mr. Tambourine Man', and 'Like a Rolling Stone'? And how did it happen so quickly? Probably this is as much of a mystery to Bob Dylan as it is to everyone else. Documenting honest-to-God inspiration of the type that Dylan received in those years--and understanding why he, rather than Joan Baez or Phil Ochs or Tom Paxton, received it--might well be impossible. But "No Direction Home" is utterly engrossing anyhow. Martin Scorsese does a fantastic job of documenting Dylan's emergence from the cold, dreary Midwest, the time he spent honing his craft in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village, and his rise to superstardom. (Yes, the audience at the Newport Folk Festival really *did* boo Dylan when he played a brief electric set there in 1965!) Of particular interest are the interviews with Allen Ginsberg and Dave Van Ronk, both of whom departed this life well before the completion of Scorsese's film. Obviously this is a must-see if you're a Dylan fan, but "No Direction Home" should--despite its length--hold the interest of more casual viewers, too.

Details

Official Sites:

PBS [United States]

Country:

UK USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bob Dylan Anthology Project

Filming Locations:

Hibbing, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spitfire Pictures, Grey Water Park Productions, Thirteen / WNET

Technical Specs

Runtime:

359 min 208 min (DVD) 205 min (2 part TV-miniseries) 201 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1