No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
Martin Scorsese
2005 - 205 min - États-Unis, Japon, Royaume-Uni

There is no simple way to tell Bob Dylan’s story. The painting is too large. Focus on one small aspect, and you miss the big picture. It’s a story of American culture in transition ... of music in the air, of politics and of art, of literature and of poetry. Drawing from hundreds of hours of unseen footage and rare recordings, in-depth interviews and revealing photographs, No Direction Home strikes a remarkable balance; telling the story of one man’s journey and at the same time placing that story within the greater canvas of human events.
The two-part film, which focuses on the singer-songwriter’s life and music from 1961-66, includes never-seen performance footage and interviews with artists and musicians whose lives intertwined with Dylan’s during that time.
Dylan talks openly and generously in contemporary on-camera interviews about this critical period in his career, detailing the journey from his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota, to Greenwich Village, New York, where he became the center of a musical and cultural upheaval, the effects of which are still felt today.
For the first time, The Bob Dylan Archives has made available rare treasures from its film, tape and stills collection, including footage from Murray Lerner’s Film Festival, documenting performances at the 1963, 1964 and 1965 Newport Folk Festivals, previously unreleased outtakes from D.A. Pennebaker’s famed 1967 documentary Don’t Look Back, and interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Maria Muldauer, and many others. In anticipation of the film, members of Dylan’s worldwide community of fans also contributed rarities from their own collections.
No Direction Home starts in the eye of the hurricane. Bob Dylan, live, 1966, in front of a hostile audience inflamed by his decision to electrify his music. There are boos, cat calls, fans streaming out. On stage, in newly discovered footage, is Dylan singing LIKE A rolling stone. It’s hard to imagine anyone walking out on this performance, no less booing it.
A story told in flashbacks, No Direction Home intertwines the immediacy of Bob Dylan’s controversial 1966 tour of the British Isles with his remarkable personal and musical journey.