Unsung Heroes: Jim James and Calexico in 'I'm Not There'
Friday, April 15, 2011 at 3:00PM Michael C. from Serious Film here, eager to dive back into a film I’ve been meaning to revisit for ages: Todd Haynes’ whirlwind Dylan collage I’m Not There (2007). All this Mildred Pierce talk has given me Haynes on the brain.
I was the ideal audience member for Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There. I am a devoted Bob Dylan lover, a big admirer of Hayne’s work, and am literate in pop culture to the point that when Haynes paid simultaneous homage to Fellini’s 8½ and Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back I had no trouble keeping up. And while I found lots to admire in this hugely ambitious project – and I was grateful Haynes didn’t attempt a traditional linear biopic – the film mostly left me cold. I was too conscious of the intellectual constructs at every turn. Dylan’s music can be pretty cerebral at times too, but I love it because he combines that obliqueness with the ability to absolutely destroy me emotionally on a consistent basis.
And yet –and yet - right at the heart of the Richard Gere section of the film, the section I found most problematic, there is this amazing scene that I haven’t been able to shake since I first viewed it four years ago.
If I’m Not There is a whole movie constructed of tangents then the scenes involving Gere playing a character named Billy the Kid riding a horse around a bizarre Old West town called Riddle may be a tangent too far. I get that it’s supposed to represent Dylan’s self-imposed exile in Woodstock in the late sixties, and that the sequence is wild grab bag of Dylan references, but these scenes still stop the movie cold with their randomness.
Or at least that's the case until all the townsfolk wander to the center of Riddle to hear Jim James of My Morning Jacket sing a hypnotic cover of Dylan’s "Going to Acapulco" backed by the band Calexico.
Covering Dylan is almost a genre of music onto itself and this incredibly soulful take of a relatively obscure track deserves a place along side the all time greats. For a little over three minutes I don’t care about Haynes’s thesis statement. Nor do I care about making sense of the riot of costuming and set decoration I’m witnessing (love the random giraffe). For those three minutes I don’t care about anything but the fact that James, Calexico, and Haynes have managed to tap into that thing I love about Dylan. All those levels of meaning can take a back seat to the visceral experience of the music.
We all have are our favorites movies, the ones we know scene for scene, line for line. But equally valuable are the individual moments, those stand alone gems from those films that otherwise didn’t reach us. The “Going to Acapulco” scene from I’m Not There is such a moment for me. I doubt I’ll ever unravel the mystery of why it made such an impression on me, not that I have any interest in doing so.
Related posts:
all episodes of "Unsung Heroes. Also check out the new songs-in-movies series "Mix Tape"
Bob Dylan, I'm Not There, Todd Haynes, Unsung Heroes, biopics, musicals
Reader Comments (6)
Love this scene so much!
I, too, was left cold by the film (I think I might've liked it a bit more than you did) but I have to say, the whole Billy the Kid section just does nothing for me, this moment included. I feel it's a bit too obvious, too knowing, the costumes too referential, everything was just off. It nearly ruined the movie for me had it not been for the strength of Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg and the story structure/direction.
The write-up was very good though, as always. Love this and 'Mix Tape'. Now if we can get Great Moments in Screen Bitchery back, we'd be set. ;)
I didn't mind the Billy the Kid section so much. It certainly wasn't the highlight of the movie. In all honesty, I did not appreciate the Jim James section the same way you did... I actually really hated it. I though it was too drawn out and felt like one of those very obvious music cameos in movies where it's like, "Okay, stop the movie so we can have the important music cameo."
Plus I don't like MMJ. :-)
I remember this being my favorite of the...storylines? tangents? Anyway, when I first saw the film, Billy the Kid was my favorite section, and this segment is certainly a part of the reason. Bruce Greenwood as Pat Garrett is another one, of course.
Another "unsung heroes" that I totally agree with. And yes, Walter - Bruce Greenwood was amazing as Pay Garrett. He was one of my personal Supporting Actors of that year in fact.
I barely remember this part, so I think it's a sign I need to go back and rewatch I'm Not There. I remember enjoying the criss-crossing Bale/Ledger strands, and above all else Cate Blanchett. So far as I'm concerned, her in that movie WAS Bob Dylan.