Don't Look Back

Bob Dylan is asked if he reads the Bible. "I've thumbed through it," is his reply.  I found this interesting as a little over a decade after 1967's DON'T LOOK BACK was filmed, Dylan announced he became a born again Christian.  I remember a local Christian bookstore called Inspiration House even carried his albums for a time.  The declaration of faith was short lived.  What of such a journey to and back?

I mention this because so much of Dylan's music can be taken as spiritual, even if he states in this documentary that he really doesn't have faith in anything.  Director D.A. Pennebaker follows Dylan and his entourage around the U.K. as he plays various venues, culminating at Royal Albert Hall.  The singer/songwriter is shown to be moody and confrontational.  Mainly toward a Time magazine reporter and a college student, who would later co-found a record label.  He also flips out when someone throws a glass in the street outside a hotel.  But he is also shown to be amused and playful.  He comes off no better or worse than other geniuses, honestly.

DON'T LOOK BACK never bored me, never tried my patience.  I'm always fascinated with backstage docs, even if I suspect that they are contrived.  Pennebaker does not give that impression here. His camerawork and editing may seem old hat today, but were quite innovative for the time.  Home movies, yes, but expertly produced.

Dylan's (ex?) girlfriend Joan Baez is seen a few times.  We even get a few duets.  Donovan is also there, as is the Animals' Alan Price.   I was especially engrossed with manager Albert Grossman, whose calm yet unwieldy demeanor brings him off like a stone cold politician.  Note that negotiation scene.

We get bits of Dylan's music, onstage and off.  Are you expecting a concert film? Or for the artist to interpret his own poetry?  Uh uh.  He does offer what John Lennon and others would echo; he needs to make a living, man.  Thank the Lord he could do it with tunes that tell timeless stories.  He may well be the best lyricist ever.  That patented voice was and is perfect for their delivery.

Stay past the famous opening scene, as Dylan flashes cards with the words from (or similar to) "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in an alley.  This opening is perfect, as any pretensions of the "art" are quickly dispelled.  By the time Bob Dylan is whisked away from the Royal Albert, entertained to learn that a journalist called him an anarchist, we've hung with him long enough to know he was just a regular joe with a distinctive gift.  DON'T LOOK BACK benefits greatly from having another gifted soul behind the camera.