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A portrait of the artist as a young brat, D. A. Pennebaker's Don't Look Back follows Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of Britain. On the cusp of his incarnation as a rock-'n-roll icon, Dylan exhibits an eerie confidence and self-possession on stage. Offstage, the center of a media onslaught -- almost quaint to today's eyes -- Dylan is a whirlwind of words, sometimes charming and insightful, sometimes badgering and sophomoric. He delights in irritating journalists small and large (he informs a Time reporter that a bum vomiting in the street is what's "real") and playing bad boy with his hangers-on and pals -- Alan Price, Bob Neuwirth, Joan Baez, and, in a wonderfully vicious sequence, Donovan. Pennebaker's verité camera shows clearly what sets Dylan apart from the hurly-burly that surrounds him: his ability to withdraw and focus. Watch him typing lyrics in a hotel room while Baez sings, or in a telling moment just before going onstage: Neuwirth clowns, people wander in and out, but Dylan is already apart and alone -- the artist ready to step into the spotlight of the world stage. Rachel Saltz

All Movie Guide

In 1965, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker accompanied Bob Dylan to England to make a film about the singer/songwriter's British tour. At the time, no one could have known how fortuitous Pennebaker's timing would prove to be. Within a few months of this tour, Dylan would forsake his role as The Conscience of Folk Music to pick up a Fender Stratocaster and play rock and roll. Within a year, Dylan would suffer a motorcycle accident that would put him out of commission for nearly 18 months. Recording several brilliant solo performances and capturing a wealth of fly-on-the-wall footage of Dylan's interactions with friends and strangers, Pennebaker caught Dylan on the cusp of a radical career change, and the man in this film seems to be thrashing about in his shackles, looking for some sort of escape route. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 767685987537
• Source: DOCURAMA
• Presentation: B&W
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:36:00
• Sales Rank: 8,945

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Don't Look Back

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