I rewatched Scorsese's No Direction Home, the documentary about Bob Dylan, last night for the first time since it aired on TV a few years back. The DVD is 3 and half hours long! But fabulous, through and through.


The most interesting points in the movie for me were the moments where Dylan's self creation was discussed. He's long been known as something of a shape shifter and it was interesting to think about the concept of home through his eyes -- where it is and how one gets there. I still wouldn't call Dylan a straight shooter or anything after watching the documentary, but my interest was piqued by both his comments and those of his many friends and collegues who were interviewed for the project, among them: Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, Mark Spoelstra, Al Kooper, Liam Clancy, Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples and Suze Rotolo.

Dylan says he was "born a long way from where [he was] supposed to be" and that he's been looking for his home, forging his own version of it ever since -- and he definitely doesn't look back. He's been inventing his own truth, his own identity throughout his career, allowing no one to pin him down at any one moment. Even his last name is an invention, purely his way of creating an identity for himself.  Dylan believes he had no past, and totally seperated himself from his Hibbing, MN upbringing. He only looked to the present moment, and did what pleased him then. This goes a long way toward explaining his career and its diversity as well as the period in the mid-60s where he took a lot of heat for "going electric." The film covers this period with dynamic energy, interviewing those who were on the side of Dylan's "authentic" folk music/protest songs and those whose eyes were fixed on the future of rock in 1965. It's thrilling to watch the portion of the film where the audacious 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance is discussed, but then again, I always seem to find this a thrilling moment in musical history.

Nov. 1: Five by Scorsese:

Kino International is proud to release a program of five rarely-seen films by America's greatest living director, Martin Scorcese. In ITALIANAMERICAN (1974, 48 minutes, color) Scorcese invites the viewer into the home of his late parents, Catherin and Charles (who have appeared in Goodfellas, Mean Streets and Raging Bull). There they discuss everything from their immigrant heritage, on-camera behavior and the family's secret spaghetti sauce recipe. To the tune of Bunny Berigan's "I Can't Get Started," a morning shave turns into a musical bloodletting in THE BIG SHAVE (1968, 6 muntes, color), an early black comedy gem unavailable for years. In AMERICAN BOY (1978, 55 minutes, Color), Scorsese "interviews" Steven Prince, best remembered as the peripatetic gun salesman Easy Andy in Taxi Driver Prince's accounts of his tragicomic upbringing as an army brat, his travels as a rock band's road manager and subsequent heroin addiction are punctuated by Neil Young's "Time Fades Away"

WHAT'S A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS? (1963, 9 minutes B/W) A young writer grows increasingly obsessed with a framed photograph hanging on his wall. IT'S NOT JUST YOU, MURRAY! (1964, 15 minutes, B/W) A small-time hoodlum named Murray thrives on his friendship with Joe, oblivious to the fact that he is being exploited by his longtime pal.

Please note: all 5 films will be screened in 16mm.

7165 West Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
7:30 start time
$7 general admission
$6 student
$4 senior

http://www.newbevcinema.com/