Masked and Anonymous Streaming
Samedi, avril 17th, 2010 |
Masked and Anonymous Streaming.
Movie Title: Masked and Anonymous Masked and Anonymous is available for streaming or downloading. |
You would probably have to go back to early Godard to find a movie as audacious, shockingly funny and brilliantly incisive in its analysis of the uneasy alliance between art and commerce as the sci-fi/film noir/spaghetti-western/Shakespearean musical-tragicomedy, Masked and Anonymous, the new movie from Bob Dylan and Larry Charles. As with some Godard, I can’t say whether it’s a comedy or a tragedy - but it’s definitely a masterpiece.
To direct the Hollywood cast to speak in the script’s poetic, ornate language could not have been easy but the actors do an exemplary job. Nearly all of them manage to hit just the right note of cartoonish hysteria to give the film a sense of unity and harmony. Except, that is, for Bob Dylan. His character, Jack Fate, is the calm in the eye of the storm, the one rational character surrounded by a world of swirling insanity and director Charles gets a lot of comic mileage out of the contrast
between Dylan’s deadpan delivery and the over-the-top performances of nearly everyone else; it’s like taking a Humphrey Bogart character out of the ’40’s and plunking him down in the middle of a massively absurd science-fiction landscape - the resignation and world-weariness of the film noir hero remains hilariously intact. The very idea is inspired and the execution is flawless.
The performance footage of course is terrific. Dylan and His Band play eight songs live on camera and there is a warmth, an intimacy and a relaxed quality to the performances that you will only see at Dylan’s best club shows. Although none of the songs are heard in their entirety, these sequences are nonetheless beautifully filmed. There is none of the rapid-fire editing and pointlessly roving camera that mars the filmed footage of so many live musical performances. Instead, Charles’ strategy is to have the band crowd together and film them in close-up with a wide-angle lens. There are numerous long takes in which all of the band members can be seen and when the camera does move, it’s deliberate and meaningful.
In a recent interview, Larry Charles said he never worried about
finding a distributor for the film and that Dylan had told him long ago not to worry about the film “in the short term.” However the film _is_ received in the short term, the richly orchestrated tapestry of sound and image that is Masked and Anonymous is sure to keep Dylanologists and film fans alike busy for decades.
Two things will really add to the appreciation of thid film. 1. An extremely open mind and 2. a working knowledge of Bob Dyaln; his history, his philosophy, his music. This is not a high budget film. Think more surrealist art house film. It does have many stars that most people will recognize, but that isn’t the focus, nor point of the movie. This is the highly metaphorical tale of a musician and how he can’t control his place in a chaotic society, but can remain true to his own self amid the chaos.
The very loosely woven plot becomes secondary to the individual events which make up the film, each scene revealing a nugget of Dylan’s perspevtive. Dylan often delivers comments that make the entire scene seem irrelevant. In this way this is, at times, a very funny film. Dylan seems relaxed, especially compared to the other films he has made. The feeling is much more “Don’t Look Back”, much less “Hearts of Fire”. He does retain his wooden movement and he delivers his short lines as commentary more often than conversation.
The soundtrack is exceptional. The performances are a real treat. All Dylan songs, but unique versions which fit seemlessly into the texture of the movie. The little girl singing “The Times They are A-Changin” will at least choke you up a bit, and possibly help us to remeber exactly how much that song meant 41 years ago, and how much it still means today.
I certainly recommend this to Dylan fans, especially those who respect or admire his perspective on the world. Anyone who enjoys non formulatic surreal films may also find much enjoyment in this movie. There is too much to pick everything up in your first screening when looking for interesting comments or details. I would recommend trying to watch and a get a feel for the film initially. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to make sense of every detail. In that way it is like most of Dylan’s music, to be experienced repeatedly.
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