“Bobby was not really a political person,” says the late Dave Van Ronk in Martin Scorsese's three-hour-plus biographical documentary about the early Dylan (the film ends at the time of Dylan's 1966 motorcycle accident), which aired on PBS's American Masters series. There is, of course, no small amount of irony in the fact that by the time Dylan—born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941—reached his 25th birthday, he had already written some of the greatest protest songs of the ‘60s, including the Civil Rights anthem “Blowin' in the Wind,” recorded in 1961. Scorsese's film, which masterfully begins (before flashing back) with Dylan and the Band on tour in England in 1966 performing their half acoustic/half electric concerts (the electric half generating boos and catcalls of “traitor”), combines outstanding archival clips (including Dylan performing at the 1963 March on Washington) and excellent interview clips featuring Joan Baez (who offers the most insightful comments about Dylan's uneasy relationship with the folk-music-propelled protest movement), Pete Seeger (who wanted to take an axe to the power cable when Dylan plugged in at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival), and Dylan himself, who—characteristically—reveals little (one is reminded of Churchill's famous quote about Russia being a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”). What cannot be denied is that between 1961-1965, Bob Dylan went from being a kid from Minnesota haunting the coffee shops of Greenwich Village to being the “spokesman of a generation” (and “that I could not do,” says Dylan of the unasked for mantle on his shoulders). Whether, as some suggest (and Dylan elfishly doesn't deny), Bob Dylan went down to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil, á la Robert Johnson, no one can say, but there's no question that Dylan remains the undisputed folk rock king—the man who in his 20s (incredibly) wrote both “The Times They Are a Changin'” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” Capturing the charisma and the chameleon-like genius of his subject, Scorsese's No Direction Home is a fine tribute to a true American icon. DVD extras include short cuts to 30 performance clips in the film, plus seven full-length performances. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
(2005) 2 discs.</span> 207 min. DVD: $29.99. Paramount Home Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). <span class=GramE>Color cover.</span> ISBN: 1-4157-1389-8. December 12, 2005
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
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