DOCUMENTARY ON A LEGEND : "DON’T LOOK BACK"

Ok, honestly, I am not quite sure what you guys will make of this one. I mean I don’t blame anyone for it; I’m not quite sure what to make of it either. Or rather I wasn’t at first. Its style is a little unconventional but to be fair I personally fell in with it very quickly. I mean, you might ask yourself what the heck could be unconventional about a documentary; it’s a pretty simple format after all… Pertinent clips and footage is shown as a narrator explains and what is going on. My point exactly. What if there is no narrator?
This seems to be exactly what the director D.A. Pennebaker asked himself before he made this documentary, for this is exactly what happens here. The documentary is about music legend, philosopher and poet Bob Dylan. In 1965 he spent three weeks touring the U.K. with Joan Baez. D.A. Pennebaker’s camera (in the singular. No fancy multiple camera angles, close-ups and so forth here) followed wherever he went. Then the footage was edited, the most striking moments selected and edited together – with no fancy or frills you understand, just one segment on the back of another – and presented for our delectation. I personally thought this was NOT the brightest idea a director could have at the start; I stand corrected. When you think about it, it’s rather an ingenious idea…
In the age of the internet and the DVD, we have all seen quite a lot of backstage – behind the scenes clips, right? We almost inevitably have a guide, telling us who is who, what is what; we are the privileged guest being shown around the studio / backstage. But of course, even though these are basically documentaries they still reek of performance. And these days they are performances of course. I mean let’s face it – every film accounts for the “behind the scenes” footage in the production stage. With Don’t Look Back however, we are just spirited backstage and left there. We are not even told who is who and what is going on. Not even a sentence or two on the screen. So in the first place, this is no performance. Mr. Dylan has kindly allowed us to hang around that’s all, he has no time to stop and explain stuff to us, and so he just gets on with his life as if we weren’t there. This whole feeling is exacerbated by the use of a single camera – no continuity type editing and definitely no real concern with “painting pretty pictures”. But this in itself doesn’t really matter because the subject matter is just so interesting; it’s a historical moment, it’s Bob Dylan and there we are, face to face with the man himself – or the closest we’ll ever get to him at any rate.
In this footage Dylan is 23. But even back then, as he gives snappy answers to well-meaning reporters and tries to explain his unique point of view and message to the world the poet and philosopher side of him shines through. I was taken aback by the lack of guidance but by the time we reached the end I was staring absolutely mesmerized… It’s a proper oldie this one, so it may be a tad hard to find; but make the effort to get your paws on a copy. It’s an experience not to be missed in my view…