Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

As "Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese" (2019 release; 142 min.) opens, Dylan is performing Mr. Tambourine Man solo. We go to today's Dylan, who claims "This was so long ago, I don't recall a thing. I wasn't even born!". At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is directed by longtime Dylan admirer Martin Scorsese. Here he brings a work of mostly fiction, although of course the concert footage is real. You may recall that during the 1975 Rolling Thunder Review, Dylan filmed a ton of footage, which eventually was released as "Renaldo and Clara" in early 1978 (more on that later). Basically Scorsese was handed the unused footage and told "do with it what you want". As if Scorsese would decline that opportunity! While they are of course very different films (and thankfully this one doesn't run 4 hours, which was the original running time of "Renaldo and Clara"), there are clear parallels between the two. In then end, "Rolling Thunder Review" also rambles quite a bit, and I found it of most interest for the concert footage, and the current interviews (all fictional). Nevertheless this is really a "must-see" for any and all Dylan fans. Now almost 50 years later, this footage is most interesting from a historical perspective. (I remember seeing "Renaldo and Clara" with a buddy of mine in a movie theater in London in the summer of 1978, and we were just dumbstruck about it. Can't recall if we stayed for the entire 4 hour showing.)

"Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese" was released on Netflix in 2019, bypassing theaters altogether. I didn't have Netflix in 2019, and only recently stumbled on it. Please note that this is currently rated 93% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. Of course don't take my word for it. If you like Dylan, and in particular his Rolling Thunder era (including his vastly underrated 1976 album "Desire"), I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

Stories told about Bob Dylan are almost as old as the man himself and it will not be me who claims to unravel the real from the unreal or the interesting from the uninteresting. In the same way there will be many arguing for what is so or not so in this wondrous extravaganza, but it will not be me. The original footage included here is of far higher quality, both technically and artistically, than we had any right to expect and if it is woven imaginatively, so much the better. I don't recall Dylan ever looking as animated as here on stage, nor perhaps as consistently happy but more importantly knocking out the songs so very well. This is a fantastic (even if possibly fantastical) film which I enjoyed from beginning to end and if someone wants to pick apart the Sharon Stone or Hurricane sequences, let them I don't care. No fan of Bob Dylan will not want to see this. No fan of Bob Dylan will (or at least should) be disappointed with this extremely well made tribute to the man and record of a certain time.

Brilliant live stuff but too much fake to make it to a 10.

Documentaries are usually not my cup of tea. And Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) is sadly one of them, with an annoying alternance of live performances of Bob Dylan (yes!!!) on the first hand, and monologues or conversations as superficial as pointless (no, no and no!) on the second hand. This is probably reserved for hardcore and unconditional fans of « Bob Dylan + Martin Scorsese », no matter what. For instance, we learn that Bob Dylan smokes with, I quote, an « European style », thanks to a John Doe. Really ?!!? Just missing a scene during which Bob Dylan reads an antique phone book, with a female blonde carefully listening and concluding with « that's interesting ». In fact, this scene almost exists: Bob Dylan discusses about mental marriage with a woman who obviously wants something more than this discussion. Thus, I gave up after 30 minutes and I left this documentary in background music despite the appalling blah-blah-blah. As a synthesis: not for me, and, a posteriori, a cd or a live Blu-Ray of Bob Dylan would have been undoubtedly a better choice.

Some people say that Dylan was at his very best when he did the RTR tour, and it's probably true; his four-hour movie ,"Renaldo and Clara" featured numerous live performances but there was too much in it that should have been edited : thus it was a flop at the box office and one dreamed of a compilation of the songs performed by Dylan and his first -class cast.Some sequences (Jack Kerouac's grave, the Indians ) were already included in Dylan-directed work,but Martin Scorcese made them aborbing and we are treated of the delight of incredible live performance (Dylan in close shot seems possessed ,almost frightening); "the lonesome death of Hattie Caroll ",notably ,is given hard-rocking treatment which makes the version on "the times they are a changin" look like a demo ;and to sing it along with "Hurricane" connects the links of the chain .There are interventions (Dylan ,Baez, Scarlet Rivera , david Mansfield) filmed some forty years after the event .Like in "Renaldo and Clara" , (remember the title and "the woman in white" ) ,all the artists have pseuds :for instance Joni Mitchell is "the musician" and they laude her courage to perform unreleased material -"coyote" is performed in a hotel room with support from Dylan and McGuinn.All the movie is absorbing and there's an interesting parallel with the political events of those years ;the only moments I could do without are Sharon Stone 's sequences which are a little off the subject ;on the other hand , all that concerns the boxer is proof positive that music can right a few wrongs.