Thursday, June 23, 2011

Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back.
1967 Leacock-Pennebaker Productions; distributed to DVD by Docurama.
Featuring: Bob Dylan, Albert Grossman, Bob Neuwirth, Joan Baez, Alan Price, Tito Burns, Donovan, Derroll Adams, Horace Freeland Judson, Marianne Faithfull, Allen Ginsberg, John Mayall (last three uncredited)
Director: D.A. Pennebaker
The 1965 Tour Deluxe Edition of this movie is available from Amazon.

D.A. Pennebaker follows Bob Dylan across the pond to England to cover his three week tour in 1965, where he made the transition from acoustic folk to rock music played with electric instruments. Opening with the now famous "Subterranean Homesick Blues" clip, we follow Dylan as he (among other things) plays several shows, including one at the Royal Albert Hall, picks on Time journalist Horace Freeland Judson, verbally jousts with student and future record mogul Terry Ellis, and befriends his British counterpart, Donovan. The film was also shot at the tail end of Dylan's relationship with Joan Baez, and even though they do collaborate on a song that came out in 1968, the tension between them is obvious.

The 2007 DVD release also includes the new documentary 65 Revisited, comprised of unused material shot in 1965, outtakes, and full song performances of seven tracks, including a duet with Baez.

Highly recommended film.

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