The Characters They Are A-Changin'

Bob Dylan biopic Filming in Rawdon.
It takes six actors to do justice to one man.
BRENDAN KELLY, The Montreal Gazette
Canada.com

Monday, August 07, 2006



The Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, which began shooting in Rawdon in the Laurentians last Monday, is anything but a straight, traditional look at the life and times of the iconic singer-songwriter.

Richard Gere was in Rawdon last week portraying the author of Knockin' on Heaven's Door as a Billy the Kid-esque outlaw figure. But Gere is just one of six actors set to play different aspects of Dylan in this film from U.S. writer-director Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven). Others due in and around Montreal in the coming weeks to play Dylan-like characters in the film include Hollywood A-list actors Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, and lesser-knowns Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw.

In a phone interview Thursday from the Rawdon set of I'm Not There, producer Christine Vachon said she felt the only way to do justice to the chameleon-like personality of Dylan was to take an offbeat approach.

"Nobody is actually playing Bob Dylan," said Vachon, who runs the hot New York indie company Killer Films. "These actors are all playing various incarnations (of Dylan). The thing about Dylan that's so fascinating is that he has completely and utterly changed his identity time and time again, and this movie is a play on that. I think it's kind of the only way to look at (Dylan).

"It's so hard to zero in on any specific time or period. His influence has been so extraordinary and pervasive. Each young generation discovers him anew and somehow finds something in him to make personal, to make their own.

"I think the only way you can even attempt to make a movie about what he means is to do it in a way that is very non-traditional like this."

Vachon figures a Dylan movie will have cross-generational appeal: He is one of the few (if not the only) musicians from the 1960s who strike a chord with 16-year-olds and 60-year-olds and most everyone in between.

"Almost everybody has a period in their life when his music becomes absolutely the most meaningful thing they've ever heard," said Vachon.

The supporting cast - those who are not playing Dylan-esque figures - includes Michelle Williams (Ledger's significant other), Julianne Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross and Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood.

The filmmakers also have hired loads of local thespians (a rare event for visiting U.S. productions), including Mark Camacho, a busy Montreal character actor who plays the manager of Jude, a singer portrayed by Blanchett.

It's one of the most star-studded movie productions of the year, which is all the more impressive given that the budget of the film is reported to be less than $20 million Canadian - tiny by Hollywood standards.

Vachon said they had no trouble attracting actors of the calibre of Ledger and Gere. "Todd Haynes has an international reputation, and I think the combination of Dylan and Todd was just irresistible."

Dylan gave the producers the rights to his life story and his music, and there will be plenty of original Dylan recordings in the film - though at this point, there are no plans for him to record any new material for the soundtrack.

Dylan will not be appearing in the film, nor will there be any archival footage of the singer. Nor is it likely he will be showing up in Montreal during filming, though Vachon is quick to add that "he's certainly welcome, if he wants to stop by."

Several other artists are recording covers of Dylan tunes for the film, including Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, folksinger Richie Havens and the hot Tex Mex-inflected band Calexico.

Vachon was reluctant to give away many details of what the team was filming last week in the Rawdon area, saying only that the region was meant to stand in for Missouri and Kentucky, and that Gere was playing a retired outlaw.

"It's reminiscent of the Old West; what we're doing this week has a real McCabe and Mrs. Miller feel," said Vachon, referring to director Robert Altman's great 1971 western. "And the landscape here is perfect."

Filming on I'm Not There is expected to continue in and around Montreal until Oct. 7.