I'm Not There (2007)
Directed by Todd Haynes
Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.
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Shot and played in the manner of Federico Fellini's 8½, the section is highlighted by a playful sense of satire and the eerie revelation that, although we're never convinced Blanchett is playing a man (which wasn't the point anyway -- the point was to create an unexpected jolt of energy), the actress somehow looks much closer to Dylan than her fellow actors.
Haynes seems equally energized by his leading lady's work—using Fellini's 8½ as a visual reference point, he turns the mid-’60s into a phantasmagorical circus with Jude/Bob as its ringleader.
This is clearly done for parodic reasons as Haynes, no stranger to over-the-top and borderline surreal melodrama with films like Safe and I’m Not There under his belt, emphasises the heightened nature of writer Samy Burch’s narrative, which is often played straight in those sensationalised dramas on that particular channel, but here is done with a somewhat self-aware attitude.
Haynes' latest is the festival circuit darling May December which is loosely inspired by the life of Mary Kay Letourneau abd re-pairs him with frequent collaborator Julianne Moore (Safe, Far From Heaven, Wonderstruck, I'm Not There) and Natalie Portman.
Director Todd Haynes (Carol, I'm Not There, Velvet Goldmine) works from a script by Samy Burch, and explores the nature of acting and artifice – both personal and cinematic.
Haynes, working with Moore for a fifth time (after "Safe," "Far From Heaven," "I'm Not There" and "Wonderstruck"), sets a soap opera tone early on, with an overly dramatic score built from pounding piano notes and camera movements exaggerated for effect.
In such films as Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Velvet Goldmine and I’m Not There, filmmaker Todd Haynes has taken the stories of famous people and utilized what we know—or think we know—about them to explore ideas about celebrity and our all-consuming need to render their often-complex stories into straightforward narratives.