“All I can do is be me, whoever that is.”
– Bob Dylan

Revolutionary, rebel, lover, recluse, romantic, spiritualist, mystery. How can you identify a man who has no identity? In his new film about (presumably about Bob Dylan) entitled I’m Not There, Todd Haynes does no such thing, instead taking seven different aspects of Dylan’s life and portraying them in such a fresh and exciting way that’s it’s hard not to be compelled by this man’s life.

Bob Dylan’s name is not mentioned once in the movie. Instead, each version of Dylan is given a name that has some sort of clever reference to Dylan’s influences and events in his life. In fact, the whole movie is full of clever Dylan references that had me chuckling many times throughout the film.

But this isn’t just a film for Dylan lover’s like me, but for appreciators of well-made, quality art. Music is important in a film like this, and all of the songs included in the film fit perfectly with the mood of the scenes they are featured in. Songs like “Blind Willie McTell,” “Man in the Long Black Coat” or “Idiot Wind” add emotion and atmosphere to the some of the films greatest moments.

Also, going into the film I was expecting some awkward transitions between the different storylines, but was pleased to find that the editors had done a fantastic job weaving the stories of these six different characters into a beautiful piece of art.

But of course there are the six (or seven) characterizations of Dylan themselves that deserve most of the attention:

Romantic (1959-61) – Portrayed by Marcus Carl Franklin
An 11-year old, black Woody Guthrie hops on to a train with his guitar and finds two hobos in the same car with him. We find out that like Dylan, Woody is traveling across the country to meet the real Woody Guthrie in the hospital. Woody then proceeds to tell the hobos his life story. This section of the film is the most humorous, if you understand that like Dylan, everything that Woody is telling the hobos about his life is completely false.

Revolutionary (1962-64) – Portrayed by Christian Bale
Young Jack Rollins is a rising folk star during a time of war and protest in America. This section of the film is told documentary style, featuring interviews with those who knew Rollins, including a Joan Baez character played by Julianne Moore. Christian Bale earns the “Most Convincing Portrayal of Dylan Award”, capturing his mannerism’s and accent perfectly. Rollins will return later in the film, a completely changed man.

Mystery (1965) – Portrayed by Ben Whishaw
This part of the movie doesn’t have a plot, instead serving as a sort of narration for the film. Whishaw plays a convincing version of Dylan (named Arthur Rimbaud, after the poet obviously) at his awkward and sometimes hilarious press conferences. All of the dialogue in these segments is real Dylan quotes. They serve mainly as transition pieces. At different points throughout the film we’ll see a clip of Arthur saying something that usually always adds quite beautifully to what’s happening in the scenes surrounding it.

Rebel (1966) – Portrayed by Cate Blanchett
Jude Quinn has betrayed his followers. At the New England Folk Festival he reveals his new sound. Loud, harsh music with howling electric guitars, much more different than his quiet folk roots. What follows is a chaotic look at Jude’s first tour in England after going electric. Cate Blanchett earns the “Second Most Convincing Portrayal of Dylan Award,” bringing out Dylan’s exaggerated speech and movements perfectly. It’s a perfect bit of casting, symbolizing how Dylan changed himself so much until not even his fans knew what he was anymore.

Lover (1964-73) – Portrayed by Heath Ledger
Robbie Clark is not a singer, Robbie Clark is an actor. An actor who made it big portraying Jack Rollins in the film “Grain of Sand.” On the set of the movie he meets Claire (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg), whom he quickly falls in love, marries, and starts a family with. But as Robbie’s fame grows, the relationship slowly comes apart and what results is the most heartbreaking thread of the movie. Ledger is impressive, but Gainsbourg just about steals the whole movie. What most people won’t realize when watching this part of the movie is that it’s telling the story of Dylan’s first marriage. So while it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Dylan, it really does.

Spiritualist (1979-81) – Portrayed by Christian Bale
Jack Rollins enters back into the picture a new man who has discovered God. He is now known as Pastor John in the Grace Community Church. This aspect of Dylan’s life only takes up one scene in the movie, but it’s probably the most powerful.

Recluse (1967-????) – Portrayed by Richard Gere
Ever since his motorcycle accident in ’66, Dylan has been a sort of hermit, reveling in the American folk tradition and Old West. This part of the film is allegorical of that aspect of Dylan’s life. Richard Gere plays Billy the Kid, a man living in a cabin outside of the town of Riddle. But when Pat Garrett introduces a new highway plan to go through the city, Billy rises up and protests. This segment really is more subtle and brilliant than the others if you can fully understand the allegory.

So in the end, who is Bob Dylan? He is everyone and no one, he is an Artist, and his music and art will live on long after he is gone. We can all be thankful for that.

2003 was a hard year for The Arcade Fire. They were about to make it big, having just released an EP and getting ready to record their first full-length album, when close friends and family members started dying off left and right. It was out of this period of darkness and pain that The Arcade Fire released Funeral in 2004, a majestic and sprawling album that couldn’t keep its mind off of death and God.

On their new album Neon Bible, it seems The Arcade Fire are mad at something, and that something is divine. I’m talking about the church. This album is full of problems that seem to have no solutions. But in the end, it all points back to one Person.

Black Mirror
This deep, dark song starts this album off quite…well, darkly. The lyrics speak of a black mirror that “know no reflection” yet at the same time casts your reflection back at you. It’s incredibly darker than anything that was on Funeral, and thus a very abrupt change in style. It’s also a perfect taste of what the rest of this album will sound like.

Keep the Car Running
This song would be a hit if it were released as a single in America. It’s brighter sounding than Black Mirror and has a steady beat. The song comes from the point of view of a man that is running from men that “are trying to take me away.” I think this is actually a great analogy for the Grim Reaper or Death. Thus, keep the car running so I can stay away from it.

Neon Bible
The title song is actually the quietest and shortest song on the album, coming in at a mere two minutes, sixteen seconds. It’s actually quite a pretty song, with little electronic blips and beeps coming in and out and the guitar picking out a sparse melody. The lyrics are cryptic and hard to decipher. It seems as if lead singer Win Butler is trying to get across the point that people in church now don’t learn for themselves, that they let the preacher tell them what to believe. This comes across in the line “What I know is what you know is right.” All in all, it’s all too short.

Intervention
A huge church organ opens up this track, which is the closest the band gets to sounding like they did on Funeral. If you pay attention to the lyrics, it’s a scathing song talking about “working for the church while your family dies.” It seems as if the song is told from the perspective of a tired, hard-hearted person who’s just leading a hard life. But because they believe that the Church heals everything if you work for it faithfully, when you’re “singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart,” everything will be alright. But who knows, that’s just the way I see it

Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Listening to the first part of this song makes me feel as if I’m watching The Never-Ending Story. I don’t know, it’s just me. Regine Chassagne, Win Butler’s wife, sings the lead on the first half of the song, telling a story from the point of view of a person that’s on the run from the law. Or maybe it’s the whole death thing again. There’s a swift change between lead vocalists, and Win takes over, singing on top of a thundering background of drums and guitars. He starts singing about how nothing lasts forever and a “great black wave in the middle of the sea for you and me.”

Ocean of Noise
This song is actually a lot calmer than its title suggests. Black Wave flows right into this song about a relationship gone bad. You know it’s going bad when there’s an “ocean of violence” between you and the one you’re with. The song starts out calmly, with sparse guitar and piano, but builds up into a nice crescendo with a full orchestra.

The Well and the Lighthouse
This song drives me crazy. Not because it’s a bad song. It is. It’s got an 80’s music type feel with some great harmonies. It’s just that I can’t figure out what the heck it’s about. It seems to be told from the point of view from a man serving time for a crime. He talks about hearing a voice in a well, saying, “See that silver shine?” Does that imply that he is doing time for stealing? Perhaps. It then moves on to him talking about being resurrected (being set free?) and living in a lighthouse.

(Antichrist Television Blues)
Now here’s how you write good lyrics. Win takes the position of a man praying to God, calling himself a good, God-fearing, Christian man and in the next breath asking God to make his daughter a star. The rest of the song is the man telling his daughter to go up on that stage so that people can see what God’s work really is, but he’s really in it for the money. The last is the punch line, “So tell me Lord, am I the antichrist?” Abrupt end.

Windowsill
A quiet, acoustic number that really builds up, Win trades in, the symbolic, cryptic imagery, for blunt, straightforward language, mentioning MTV and America by name. The song is a angry one, describing the thing the speaker doesn’t want to hear, that he doesn’t “want to see on his windowsill no more.” It builds into a huge, big chorus before finally ending the way it began.

No Cars Go
The simplest song lyrically, but probably the best on the record. The lyrics simply mention that they know a place where no planes, spaceships, cars, or any other form of transport go. Personally, I think it’s about heaven. The music really builds up on this, ending in a beautiful orchestral crescendo with the entire band singing a chorus of “ah’s” together.

My Body is A Cage
The album closer is another quiet, creepy one that turns huge in the end. Win starts singing about his body being a cage, keeping him from dancing with the one that he loves. The song slowly builds up, until the church organ comes crashing in again. And in the end, it all goes back to a prayer to the Divine, pleading to “set my spirit free.”