Episode cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Bob Dylan | ... | Self | |
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B.J. Rolfzen | ... | Self (voice) |
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Dick Kangas | ... | Self |
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Liam Clancy | ... | Self |
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Anthony Glover | ... | Self (as Tony Glover) |
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Paul Nelson | ... | Self |
Allen Ginsberg | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
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Dave Van Ronk | ... | Self (archive footage) |
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Maria Muldaur | ... | Self |
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John Cohen | ... | Self |
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Bruce Langhorne | ... | Self |
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Mark Spoelstra | ... | Self |
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Suze Rotolo | ... | Self |
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Izzy Young | ... | Self |
Mitch Miller | ... | Self |
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. Written by (typography correction by Otto Mäkelä)
I felt thoroughly happy while watching No Direction Home on BBC 2 over the past two evenings - lots of video and audio footing I had never heard or seen before and precious insights into the workings of Dylan's poetic mind.
I have been following Dylan for over 40 years now and have always been a fan, except during his Christian period. I found it illuminating to learn that, when Joan Baez had just delivered to him a deep-going analysis of one of his songs, Dylan said he was curious to see what other reviewers would make of it. Himself he didn't know what the hell it all meant. He just wrote beautiful texts without worrying too much if all the combined lines would make coherent sense.
Dylan uses words like an impressionist painter uses paint. Those paintings can confer a sense of beauty without necessarily offering a clear idea of what is actually presented. Dylan's songs are collections of beautiful phrases and words. Don't ask him to explain the meaning of existence to us. Just enjoy his unique songs and magical voice. In his own words, he is "just a song and dance man". And a sublime one at that!
Profound thanks to Scorsese for making this picture. A 10 out of 10. (And thanks to Philconcannon for his excellent review.)