D. A. Pennebaker:
Don't look back (USA, 1967)
90 min - Beta. English.
D. A. Pennebaker's classic documentary follows 24-year-old Bob Dylan and his entourage during their British tour in the spring 1965. We join them in press releases, taxi rides and concerts, even if it's in hotel rooms where most of the music takes place. The film's opening scene alone is nothing short of legendary, as the short clip is possibly the first rock music video ever made.
But perhaps the finest aspect of this documentary is the throughout naturalness of all its main characters in their reactions to having the camera constantly around. They do not try to pose to the camera, nor play any roles. To have such a feeling of easiness created between the subject of the documentary and the audience is something most film makers can only dream of. Since the making of this film, no other medium has been able to get as near to Dylan's personality.
This documentary made D. A. Pennebaker a legend already at a ver early stage of his career, and his fame was assured with later films Monterey Pop (1967), Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973), The War Room (1993) and Down from the Mountain (2001). Pennebaker has established himself as an open-minded, unashamed, sometimes even iconoclastic film-maker who is not afraid to look difficult themes right into the eye. In Don't Look Back, angry young Dylan is at times kind, at times ruthlessly merciless to those around him. He can be particularly cruel to press people or to his English rival Donovan, who is the butt of an awesome number of jokes during the entire three-week period, but generally no-one is safe from Dylan's sassy remarks.
Besides Dylan singing and playing his guitar, there are also performances in the film by Joan Baez, Alan Price, Allen Ginsberg and, naturally, Donovan. Hotel rooms make an unforgettable setting to songs like The Times They Are A-Changing, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue and It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). The film is a beautiful account of an important turning point in both Dylan's career and in popular music in general, when political awareness in pop was taking its first steps.
