No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

Scorsese does a superb job piecing together Dylan's early career, culminating in the legendary 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert. Dylan establishes himself as his own individual, steadfastly (and admirably) refusing to be pegged down and pigeonholed. Scorsese unearthed a lot of great stuff to help put Dylan into context. A really compelling work that trucks along nicely despite its length, though I imagine it would be of little interest to non-fans.

Well-done portrait of a complex figure about whom I have ambivalent feelings. The heart of the film is the politics and the aesthetics of the relations between “authentic” folk music, “protest songs”, “topical songs”, and “commercialised” rock’n’roll, with the singular Dylan somehow both embodying and yet displacing the locus of these questions and these debates. In other words, Scorsese is definitely and admirably preoccupied by some rather specific questions in music history.

Was put together marvelously. Was a lot to take in but the combination of Scorsese and Dylan is a success.

Was not much of a fan before viewing. Still not much of one afterward. Scorsese does a good job cobbling together a story from, what has to have been, miles of footage and a daunting subject. He keeps things moving along nicely, and pushed the music to the forefront by including lengthy, performance clips. For someone so unwilling (or unable) to accommodate those poor souls who have to interview him, this was the only route to go. Still don't know what makes him tick. Might that be the point?

It's exhilerating. Martin Scorsese takes over the rock star portrait documentary genre and makes it his bitch.

The definitive story of the musical beginnings of one of the greatest and most important musicians of all time.

Great Music Doc...I don't even like Dylan but it was really good.

Loads of archival footage and heaps of talking heads which always makes for boring viewing. However, there is some educational value as it made me realise that Dylan and Orson Welles are kindred spirits; both boy geniuses from the Midwest who stopped at nothing to realise their artistic visions, and who never regretted taking no prisoners in redefining their respective fields. I also suspect that they likely both admired each other, but would never admit it (pure speculation from me).

A thorough charting of Dylan’s early life and influences, filtered through Scorsese's clear love and affinity for the pop culture of the era depicted. You would expect the whiff of hagiography to creep in at the corners, but it is surprising how frankly and brutally Dylan’s less likable attributes are dealt with – especially with Van Ronk and Baez around to offer first-hand testimony. A little long-winded, (only really picking up steam in the second half), but still compelling and fascinating.

The biggest compliment I can give this documentary is that after it ended on his motorcycle crash, 3 1/2 hours had passed and I wished it had just kept going. I wanted to see Scorsese deal with the Basement Tapes, the shift to country, "Self-Portrait" ... on and on.