grantss Directed by Martin Scorsese, a documentary on Bob Dylan, master-lyricist, musical genius and one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Covers the period from 1961 - his first arrival in New York - to 1966, when he retired (not permanently, ultimately) after a motorcycle accident.Great documentary on an extraordinary man. Bob Dylan is one of the most influential people In music history, and director Martin Scorsese captures well his ability and influence. He captures too Dylan's rise to the top, from playing folk music clubs in New York to being one of the most famous rock stars on the planet.

Stephanie T First of all I adore Bob Dylan and think he is the greatest songwriter of all time! Bob Dylan's simplicity is sheer perfection, nothing fake at all! Amazing his consistency to write great songs thru every decade. As well as I equally love his voice, his voice and music are the perfect marriage...all with no ego or a front as a star!However I did not like this film, it was boring as I was only interested in Bob Dylan and not the others sorry..I'm a focus person, so my focus is Bob Dylan and that's all I wanted to see. Yes I understand it's important to show one's influences but Scorsese failed to present it properly. Scorsese is a talented technical film maker but he lacks in the air and magic why he has been overlooked many times: ( However a couple of his films were perfect. He is so grand that the smallest imperfection shadows his grand talent... A bit of personal disappointment is that nearly every film maker and writer does not mention how Bob Dylan influenced Jimi Hendrix. This film mentions other's that covered his songs but no mention of Jimi Hendrix

Wendy Darling It's a Saturday night and I just finished watching Part 1 of this and OMG, it is AMAZING. Above all the best part is hearing Dylan explain -himself- rather than someone else explaining -him-. On top of that, he is straightforward, not seeming to play mind games or be elusive. There are plenty of other great people brought in too, everyone from Allen Ginsberg to Joan Baez to Pete Seeger to Liam Clancy to Mitch Miller. And on top of THAT, there are musical performances brought in throughout, not just Dylan but people - country, folk, blues, rock - from the 50s and 60s who influenced him and the times. Overall the movie does a great job of taking you back to a particular time in history, so it's not just abut one person but the times. In this way it's quite a lot like The Nomi Song, one of my all-time favorite movies and another great, great music documentary - about the late 70s / early 80s in the underground NYC punk/experimental scene. Anyway, just great and I'll be speeding the Netflix envelope back on Monday morning so I can see Part 2 as soon as possible.

dbdumonteil Like the singer's own movie,"Renaldo and Clara" ,"no direction home " is a very looong movie (210 min);there the comparison ends : you do not need the fast forward button here ;every minute of Scorcese 's movie is absorbing ;it might be the best movie dealing with rock ever made.Although it only covers Dylan's first years (it stops in 1966 with the motorcycle accident),it is so dense, so well-documented that it seems to depict an entire life;everyone says ,anyway,that those years were the best in Dylan' s career:there were great things afterwards ("blood on the tracks" ) but who could claim that his music was more ground-breaking than in the 1963-66 era?"North country blues" ,for instance ,is not heard ,but when Dylan talks about the miners in his hometown ,and he tells us about their plight and the fact that they did not think of rebellion ,it's impossible not to think of the heroine who "married John Thomas a miner".Although it's linear ,the movie includes scenes of the " rock" period even when Dylan is still a folk singer and has not yet made an album.this may puzzle people not familiar with Dylan's biography but are there any in the people who watch the film?Scorcese displays a sense of humor which Dylan possessed in those years :for instance "when the ship comes in" (Joan Baez had already told the anecdote in her "and a voice to sing with" autobiography ) was written because Dylan was denied a room in a hotel;it became an anthem in Washington with MLK!When we see Dylan playing in public (and there are plenty of live songs) we say to ourselves that all these versions are much superior to the studio recordings which sound often like demos :this is confirmed by the singer in the movie.When asked if he prefers to be acclaimed or booed (he is booed several times in the movie),Dylan hints at Billie Holiday's impressive "strange fruit" after which the audience was silent . A lot of people ,from Dylan's legend (with the exception of Maria Muldaur)play a big part in the movie:the women, Echo,Suze Rotolo and Joan Baez of course:I'm sure that many people will think that too much is given over to Baez but I personally think that her contribution is vital to the story.Early in the movie,Dylan said that she opened a world for him.Her new cover of "love is just a four-letter world' is moving.Also of great interest are Pete Seeger's ,Dave Van Ronk's ,Allen Ginsberg's and Mike Bloomfield's contributions.Much to my surprise ,an important musician such as Robbie Robertson is not interviewed whereas he's often on the screen.Minor quibble: the interaction between Dylan and the Beatles (and to a lesser degree with the other groups of the British invasions ) is almost passed over in silence .Dylan made history: the events depicted in parallel to his-story (Kennedy,MLK or the cold war when he was a teenager) are reflected in his works ,not only the protest song (the prophetic " a hard rain's gonna fall" and the universal "only a pawn in her game" ) but also in the "surrealist" ones ("desolation row")Bob Dylan was the greatest American songwriter of the twentieth century: he's got the movie he deserved.Like this ... try these .... None of these movies come close to " No direction come" though...."Renaldo and Clara" (1978) for fans only;the others should try the DVD which includes all the live performances ONLY."Hard Rain" (MTV 1976) unfairly overlooked ,this concert includes fine Dylan/Baez duets as well as a heavy metal "shelter from the storm" version."The concert for Bangla Desh" (Saul Swimmer 1972) 5 songs with Harrison,Starr and Leon Russel;youtube offers an outtake ,a Harrison /Dylan duet , "if not for you" ."Don't look back" (Pennbaker,1967;Scorcese 's movie includes many extracts of this excellent documentary)"The last waltz" (Scorcese 1978) made when the Band split;Dylan's songs include an exciting version of "baby let me follow you down" ."Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid " (Peckinpah 1973) Alias who? Best avoid.