Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese: Difference between revisions
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'''''Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese''''' is an American [[Pseudo-documentary|pseudo-documentary film]], comprised of both fictional and non-fictional material, |
'''''Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese''''' is an American [[Pseudo-documentary|pseudo-documentary film]], comprised of both fictional and non-fictional material, on [[Bob Dylan]]'s 1975 [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] concert tour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/columns/why-did-martin-scorsese-prank-his-audience-in-rolling-thunder-revue-1203243856/|title=Why Did Martin Scorsese Prank His Audience in ‘Rolling Thunder Revue’? Even He May Not Know|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|last2=Gleiberman|first2=Owen|date=2019-06-15|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref> It is director [[Martin Scorsese]]'s second film on Bob Dylan, after ''[[No Direction Home]],'' a documentary released in 2005. The bulk of the film is made up of outtakes from Dylan's film ''[[Renaldo and Clara]]'', which was filmed in conjunction with the tour. It features interviews from prominent figures from the tour such as Dylan, [[Joan Baez]], [[Sam Shepard]], [[Ronee Blakley]], [[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]], [[Roger McGuinn]], [[Ronnie Hawkins]], [[Larry Sloman]], [[Rubin "Hurricane" Carter]], as well as archival interviews from [[Scarlet Rivera]] and [[Allen Ginsberg]]. It also features interviews from actors portraying characters who were supposedly involved with the tour but in actuality were never there, including [[Martin Von Haselberg]] playing the fictional filmmaker Stefan Van Dorp, [[Sharon Stone]] playing a fictionalized version of herself, and [[Michael Murphy (actor)|Michael Murphy]] reprising his role as Jack Tanner from the 1988 miniseries [[Tanner '88]]. The film does not differentiate between the fictional and factual testimonies and even Dylan himself refers to the fictional characters in his interviews, leaving the audience to guess what's real and what isn't.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Andy |title=A Guide to What’s Fake in ‘Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story’ |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/rolling-thunder-revue-bob-dylan-story-doc-whats-fake-847231/ |website=Rolling Stone |accessdate=13 June 2019}}</ref> |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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Revision as of 10:44, 17 June 2019
| Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Produced by | Margaret Bodde Jeff Rosen |
| Starring | Bob Dylan |
| Cinematography | Paul Goldsmith Ellen Kuras |
| Edited by | Damian Rodriguez David Tedeschi |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 142 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is an American pseudo-documentary film, comprised of both fictional and non-fictional material, on Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour.[1] It is director Martin Scorsese's second film on Bob Dylan, after No Direction Home, a documentary released in 2005. The bulk of the film is made up of outtakes from Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, which was filmed in conjunction with the tour. It features interviews from prominent figures from the tour such as Dylan, Joan Baez, Sam Shepard, Ronee Blakley, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Roger McGuinn, Ronnie Hawkins, Larry Sloman, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, as well as archival interviews from Scarlet Rivera and Allen Ginsberg. It also features interviews from actors portraying characters who were supposedly involved with the tour but in actuality were never there, including Martin Von Haselberg playing the fictional filmmaker Stefan Van Dorp, Sharon Stone playing a fictionalized version of herself, and Michael Murphy reprising his role as Jack Tanner from the 1988 miniseries Tanner '88. The film does not differentiate between the fictional and factual testimonies and even Dylan himself refers to the fictional characters in his interviews, leaving the audience to guess what's real and what isn't.[2]
Plot
The film opens with a modern day Dylan admitting he doesn't remember anything about the Rolling Thunder Revue, saying it happened so long ago "I wasn't even born!" He finds it impossible to get to the "core" of what it was all about because "it's about nothing."
As the bicentennial of the country fast approaches, and with the spirit of America particularly bleak after the country's unceremonious exit from Vietnam and the Watergate Scandal, Bob Dylan decides to gather together a group of his friends from the Greenwich Village coffee houses and go on an adventurous tour across New England and parts of Canada. Dubbed the "Rolling Thunder Revue", the tour is documented by European filmmaker Stefan Van Dorp who seeks to expose the hedonistic attitude of the people surrounding Dylan and juxtapose it against the nihilistic mood of middle-class America.
Along the way, Larry 'Ratso' Sloman, a reporter sent by Rolling Stone to write about the tour, tries to integrate himself into Dylan's inner circle. A young Sharon Stone is put in charge of costumes after being taken to a show by her mother and becomes convinced the song "Just Like a Woman" was written for her. Dylan starts to wear Whiteface makeup onstage after violinist Scarlet Rivera takes him to see a Kiss concert. Allen Ginsberg tries to refashion himself as a singer/songwriter as the beat poet movement starts falling out of popular relevance. Joan Baez attempts to rekindle her romance with Dylan by singing with him onstage and dressing up in his stage outfit; Dylan visits a Tuscarora Reservation in New York and performs a rendition of "The Ballad of Ira Hayes"; Joni Mitchell joins the tour midway thru and is inspired to write the song "Coyote" about the experience. After US House of Representatives member Jack Tanner, a close friend of Jimmy Carter, hears Dylan's new song "Hurricane", it results in a retrial for Rubin "Hurricane" Carter which eventually leads to his release from jail.
The tour comes to a stop in Montreal. Van Dorp states the only reason he agreed to be interviewed for this documentary was to stake his claim over the footage from the tour which makes up the bulk of the film. Ginsberg encourages the viewer to follow the example of the performers they've witnessed and go on their own journeys of self-discovery. Bob Dylan continues to tour after the Rolling Thunder Revue, playing over 3,000 shows over the course of 40 years.
Cast
The interviewees in the film are given character names in the end credits. Some of the people interviewed were part of the Rolling Thunder Revue, some were not, and some are entirely fictional.
- Bob Dylan as himself
- Allen Ginsberg as The Oracle of Delphi
- Patti Smith as The Punk Poet
- Martin Von Haselberg as The Filmmaker. Haselberg plays a character in the movie named Stefan Van Dorp, a European filmmaker who claims to have directed the original footage of the tour for a movie he was making about the spirit of America in the '70s. In reality, the tour footage was directed by Dylan himself for the 1978 film Renaldo and Clara.
- Scarlet Rivera as The Queen of Swords
- Joan Baez as The Balladeer
- Roger McGuinn as The Minstrel
- Larry "Ratso" Sloman as The Rolling Stone Reporter
- Jim Gianopulos as The Promoter. The story depicts Gianopulos as the promoter of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, when in reality he was attending law school during the period of time this film is set in.
- Ramblin' Jack Elliott as The Sailor
- Sam Shepard as The Writer
- David Mansfield as The Innocent
- Sharon Stone as The Beauty Queen. Stone claims to have joined up with the tour at the age of 19, helping with the stage costumes, having a brief flirtation with Dylan, and proclaiming that one day she would be a famous movie star. In reality, Stone was 17 when the Rolling Thunder Revue went on tour and she never crossed paths with Dylan or any of his associates. The photos of them together are digital fabrications.
- Ronnie Hawkins as The Shitkicker
- Anne Waldman as The Word Worker
- Ronee Blakley as The Ingénue
- Joni Mitchell as The Artist
- Chief Rolling Thunder as The Medicine Man. Despite the tour being named after him, not part of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Appears only in unrelated interview footage.
- Chief Mad Bear as The Chief
- Peter La Farge as The Cowboy Indian. Not part of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Appears only in unrelated archive footage.
- Michael Murphy as The Politician. Murphy reprises his role as Rep. Jack Tanner from the miniseries Tanner '88. He claims Jimmy Carter got him tickets to see the Rolling Thunder Revue in Niagra Falls. Obviously, since Tanner is a fictional character this is untrue.
- Rubin "Hurricane" Carter as The Boxer
Release
The film was released by Netflix on June 12, 2019.[3] Columbia Records also released a box-set album entitled The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings to tie-in with the release.[4]
See also
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue (2002)
- Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (2019)
References
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen; Gleiberman, Owen (2019-06-15). "Why Did Martin Scorsese Prank His Audience in 'Rolling Thunder Revue'? Even He May Not Know". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
- ^ Greene, Andy. "A Guide to What's Fake in 'Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ Nordine, Michael (April 25, 2019). "Netflix Sets Martin Scorsese's Bob Dylan Doc for June, Plus Oscar-Qualifying Theatrical Run". IndieWire. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- ^ Nelson, Alex (May 2, 2019). "Bob Dylan – Rolling Thunder: Netflix release date revealed, and everything else about the new Martin Scorsese documentary". I. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
