Rolling Thunder Revue: Martin Scorsese Racconta Bob Dylan

My ex and I saw Bob Dylan perform in 1984, a superb concert. My ex was and is a huge fan of his and as he doesn't own a TV (yes really!) I invited him to pop over and watch this on Netflix. The music is of course fabulous, Desire is my favourite Dylan album so it was a treat to hear so much from it. On the whole we both really enjoyed this. For me, the highlights were Bob and Allen Ginsberg at Jack Kerouac's graveside. his interactions with Joan Baez (where they are talking about each marrying other people - wow), Scarlet Rivera (so talented) and the section about Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter. However, I wasn't too impressed with the fake present-day interviews. I felt they were distracting from the main event which for me was the footage from 1975 and the real interviews. This made my ex-husbands Father's Day mind, I'm sure he went home to listen to some of his vast Dylan music collection.

Some people say that Dylan was at his very best when he did the RTR tour, and it's probably true; his four-hour movie ,"Renaldo and Clara" featured numerous live performances but there was too much in it that should have been edited : thus it was a flop at the box office and one dreamed of a compilation of the songs performed by Dylan and his first -class cast.Some sequences (Jack Kerouac's grave, the Indians ) were already included in Dylan-directed work,but Martin Scorcese made them aborbing and we are treated of the delight of incredible live performance (Dylan in close shot seems possessed ,almost frightening); "the lonesome death of Hattie Caroll ",notably ,is given hard-rocking treatment which makes the version on "the times they are a changin" look like a demo ;and to sing it along with "Hurricane" connects the links of the chain .There are interventions (Dylan ,Baez, Scarlet Rivera , david Mansfield) filmed some forty years after the event .Like in "Renaldo and Clara" , (remember the title and "the woman in white" ) ,all the artists have pseuds :for instance Joni Mitchell is "the musician" and they laude her courage to perform unreleased material -"coyote" is performed in a hotel room with support from Dylan and McGuinn.All the movie is absorbing and there's an interesting parallel with the political events of those years ;the only moments I could do without are Sharon Stone 's sequences which are a little off the subject ;on the other hand , all that concerns the boxer is proof positive that music can right a few wrongs.

I am a huge Bob Dylan fan. All of it. This era in particular. The choice of songs and variety of musicians was so unique and brilliant. The glaring omission of Mick Ronson is unforgivable. They don't even mention his name a single time! His guitar work during this tour provides a constant swirling tapestry of melody, solos, and originality that deserves a documentary on its own. Shame on Bob. RIP Mick!

The music and footage is great and could stand on its own. The rest as many have mentioned is pretentious drivel.

Stories told about Bob Dylan are almost as old as the man himself and it will not be me who claims to unravel the real from the unreal or the interesting from the uninteresting. In the same way there will be many arguing for what is so or not so in this wondrous extravaganza, but it will not be me. The original footage included here is of far higher quality, both technically and artistically, than we had any right to expect and if it is woven imaginatively, so much the better. I don't recall Dylan ever looking as animated as here on stage, nor perhaps as consistently happy but more importantly knocking out the songs so very well. This is a fantastic (even if possibly fantastical) film which I enjoyed from beginning to end and if someone wants to pick apart the Sharon Stone or Hurricane sequences, let them I don't care. No fan of Bob Dylan will not want to see this. No fan of Bob Dylan will (or at least should) be disappointed with this extremely well made tribute to the man and record of a certain time.

Documentaries are usually not my cup of tea. And Rolling Thunder Revue: Martin Scorsese Racconta Bob Dylan (2019) is sadly one of them, with an annoying alternance of live performances of Bob Dylan (yes!!!) on the first hand, and monologues or conversations as superficial as pointless (no, no and no!) on the second hand. This is probably reserved for hardcore and unconditional fans of « Bob Dylan + Martin Scorsese », no matter what. For instance, we learn that Bob Dylan smokes with, I quote, an « European style », thanks to a John Doe. Really ?!!? Just missing a scene during which Bob Dylan reads an antique phone book, with a female blonde carefully listening and concluding with « that's interesting ». In fact, this scene almost exists: Bob Dylan discusses about mental marriage with a woman who obviously wants something more than this discussion. Thus, I gave up after 30 minutes and I left this documentary in background music despite the appalling blah-blah-blah. As a synthesis: not for me, and, a posteriori, a cd or a live Blu-Ray of Bob Dylan would have been undoubtedly a better choice.