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25 December 2009
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Don't Look Back
  DON'T LOOK BACK
DA Pennebaker, USA, 1967
Wednesday 28 September 2005 10.50pm-12.25am
 
 

DA Pennebaker's cinéma-vérité account of Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England stands as a landmark film.

 DID YOU KNOW?

Not only does it capture Dylan at a crucial moment in his career, having just "gone electric", it also proved that the behind-the-scenes life of rock stars was as compelling as what they did on stage.

The film is an intimate portrait of Dylan. We see him drunk in hotel rooms, enthralled by Joan Baez and berating the press. He tells one Time magazine journalist "I know more about what you do just by looking at you than you'll ever be able to know about me".

Don't Look Back captures the 23-year-old Dylan as an enigmatic combination of ultimate performer and restless individual - a man who refuses to acknowledge or accept the labels put on either himself or his music.

As director DA Pennebaker says, "He had to be extraordinary where most of us settle for just being adequate."

Rock Doc Greats home

 
 
DA PENNEBAKER Q&A
The Rock Doc maestro answers your questions
  DA Pennebaker answers your questions
BEAT THE INTRO
Know your music? Play our new game
David Bowie: Beat the Intro

 

BBC Links

Pennebaker and Hegedus Profile
We survey the filmmakers' career

External Links

Bob Dylan
Massive official site with lots of further links

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