Documentary on Bob Dylan includes subtitles so that not a word is missed
The two-part, four-hour series will air on PBS in mid-July
Alex Strachan
Special to the Sun
January 17, 2005
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- One word springs to mind when discussing Martin Scorsese's upcoming documentary for PBS about Bob Dylan: Subtitles.
The two-part, four-hour documentary is being culled from 10 hours of video interviews with the tambourine man himself, not to mention another 10 or so hours of audio tapes.
"There will be subtitles," Scorsese vowed of his American Masters documentary, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, which will air in mid-July.
Not because the philosopher poet and composer of Blowin' in the Wind, Times They Are A-Changin' and Knockin' on Heaven's Door is hard to understand at times, but because Scorsese wants to make sure that not one word of previously unaired interview tapes and concert footage -- some of it in dire need of restoration -- falls on deaf ears.
Scorsese, who speaks so fast it's impossible to keep up at times, insists he won't rely on subtitles to interpret what the heck Dylan is saying at times, but rather to cut through some of the background noise.
"It depends on the moment," Scorsese said during a brief, whirlwind appearance before the semi-annual gathering of the Television Critics Association here.
"You have to have his language, the way he speaks. If he speaks in circles and he goes around, 'I'm just coming home, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and that's all I ever meant to do, I'm just on my way home, bang,' that you take as is. It sounds like music to me. I don't think you need to subtitle it."
Hecklers in a U.K. nightclub who accuse Dylan in thick British accents of selling out to The Man, however -- that's a different kettle of fish entirely.
"I want the audience to understand that when you see this black, darkened image of him on the stage, they're yelling, 'Judas, traitor,'" Scorsese said. "You can barely hear it. Imagine somebody's TV set at home, if the volume is turned down. You know what I'm saying? If you see the word 'traitor' come up on the screen, depending where you're cutting from, or what you're cutting into, it can be very dramatic, you see? I think it's important to know what those kids were saying. I want people to understand why the kids were mad."
No Direction Home, which focuses exclusively on the music icon's life and music between 1961 and 1966, will feature a number of firsts. The first time Dylan talks openly on camera about this formative period in his evolution as an artist, for example. The first time The Bob Dylan Archive has made available numerous pieces from its film, tape and stills collection, such as footage from the 1963, '64 and '65 Newport Folk Festivals, previously unreleased outtakes from D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 documentary Don't Look Back, and previously unaired interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Maria Muldauer.
"There's a clip from a film made in Canada by a wonderful, at that time, interesting director named Daryl Duke, which we have a piece of in the film," Scorsese added.
"He did it sort of in a cabin, with logging -- sort of as if they're in a logging community. Dylan comes in and sings, and these other men are moving around. It's quite interesting. The quality might not be as good as some of the other clips, but it's quite moving."
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese's two-part documentary about Bob Dylan, will air on PBS on July 13 and 14. An extended director's cut will be released on DVD shortly after.
astrachan@canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
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