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No Direction Home

{{short description|2005 documentary film by Martin Scorsese}}

{{other uses}}

{{more citations needed|date=October 2009}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Bobdylannodirectionhome.jpg

| alt = A black-and-white photograph of Dylan standing several feet in front of a man stepping out of an automobile holding a sign.

| caption = DVD cover

| writer =

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = Martin Scorsese

| starring = Bob Dylan

| narrator =

| theme_music_composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| producer = Susan Lacy
Jeff Rosen
Martin Scorsese
Nigel Sinclair
Anthony Wall

| editor = David Tedeschi

| cinematography = Mustapha Barat

| runtime = 208 minutes

| company =

| budget =

| released = {{Start date|2005|09|27}}

}}

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a 2005 documentary film directed by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th-century American popular music and culture. The film focuses on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his "retirement" from touring following his motorcycle accident in July 1966. This period encapsulates Dylan's rise to fame as a folk singer and songwriter where he became the center of a cultural and musical upheaval, and continues through the electric controversy surrounding his move to a rock style of music.

The title of the film is taken from the lyrics of Dylan's 1965 single "Like a Rolling Stone".

Production and content

The film was first broadcast on television in both the United States (as part of the American Masters series on PBS) and the United Kingdom (as part of the Arena series on BBC Two) on September 26–27, 2005.{{cite web|title=Bob Dylan - About the Film|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/bob-dylan-about-the-film/574/|website=American Masters|publisher=PBS|date=June 28, 2006|access-date=October 19, 2022}} A DVD version of the film and accompanying soundtrack album (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack) were released that same month.

The project began to take shape in 1995 when Dylan's manager, Jeff Rosen, began scheduling interviews with Dylan's friends and associates. Among those interviewed were poet Allen Ginsberg and folk musician Dave Van Ronk, both of whom died before the film was completed. Dylan's old girlfriend Suze Rotolo also granted a rare interview, and she later told Rolling Stone that she was very pleased with the project's results. Dylan himself also sat for ten hours in a relaxed and open conversation with Rosen in 2000. Other interviews with those who knew him at the time include Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Liam Clancy, Maria Muldaur, Peter Yarrow, John Cohen, singer Mavis Staples, artist Bob Neuwirth, guitarist/organist Al Kooper, promoters such as Harold Leventhal and Tom Nelson, record industry A&R reps, promoters and executives Izzy Young, Mitch Miller, John Hammond, Artie Mogul, and filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker.

According to Rolling Stone, an unnamed source close to the project claimed that Dylan had no involvement with the project apart from the interview, saying that "[Dylan] has no interest in this . . . Bob truly does not look back." However, work on the first installment of Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, did overlap production of the project, though it is unclear how much, if any, influence Chronicles may have had on No Direction Home.

Though raw material was being gathered for the project, Rosen needed someone to edit and shape it into a quality motion picture, and celebrated filmmaker Martin Scorsese was approached to direct the documentary planned from the project. Scorsese eventually agreed and came aboard in 2001.

In the meantime, Dylan's offices gathered hundreds of hours of historical film footage dating from the time covered in No Direction Home. These included a scratchy recording of Dylan's high school rock band, his 1965 screen test for Andy Warhol, and newly discovered footage of the famous Manchester Free Trade Hall concert from May 17, 1966, when an angry fan called out "Judas!" just before Dylan and the Hawks performed "Like a Rolling Stone". Shot by D. A. Pennebaker, the onstage color footage was found in 2004 in a pile of water-damaged film recovered from Dylan's vault.

The cover photo on the DVD package, by Barry Feinstein, shows Dylan standing in front of the Aust Ferry terminal in Gloucestershire, England, in May 1966, shortly before the opening of the Severn Bridge which replaced the ferry.

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from film critics, as review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 88% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 14 reviews.{{cite web|title=No Direction Home|url=http://au.rottentomatoes.com/m/1148076-no_direction_home_bob_dylan/|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=2009-10-07}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of a possible four stars, stating that it "creates a portrait that is deep, sympathetic, perceptive and yet finally leaves Dylan shrouded in mystery, which is where he properly lives".{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=2005-09-20|title=No Direction Home: Bob Dylan |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050919/REVIEWS/509200301/1023|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=2009-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050923021455/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050919/REVIEWS/509200301/1023|archive-date=2005-09-23|url-status=dead}}

In The Guardian, Sam Wollaston wrote: "It's wonderful, a remarkable knitting together of a lot of tangled strands into a thing of sense and beauty. Maybe it will help to convert the unconvinced. Dylanites meanwhile will treasure it, while singing along."{{Cite web |last=Wollaston |first=Sam |date=17 Sep 2005 |title=Last night's TV. Scorsese's much-hyped film about Dylan isn't quite what it first seems, but is remarkable, revealing and very funny |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/sep/27/broadcasting.bobdylan |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=The Guardian}}

On December 19, 2024, Screen Rant released an article describing the documentary as, "Dylan’s unmatched place in 20th-century American popular music into perspective [that’s] digestible to a newcomer." The article later added that the film "painted a vivid portrait of the artist while still maintaining his mysterious appeal."{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Stephen |date=2024-12-19 |title=10 Bob Dylan Movies To Watch Before A Complete Unknown |url=https://screenrant.com/bob-dylan-movies-watch-before-complete-unknown-list/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}

Accolades

The film received a Peabody Award in April 2006{{cite web|title=American Masters: No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/american-masters-no-direction-home-bob-dylan|publisher=Peabody Awards|access-date=October 19, 2022}} and a Columbia-duPont Award in January 2007,{{cite web|title=Past duPont Award Winners|url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1175295299814/page/1175295299796/simplepage.htm|publisher=Journalism School, Columbia University|access-date=September 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123111725/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1175295299814/page/1175295299796/simplepage.htm|archive-date=November 23, 2008|url-status=dead}} and Martin Scorsese received a Grammy Award in direction for best long-form video.

Legacy

The documentary, describing the 1960 New York folk scene, served as an inspiration to Justin Timberlake for his part in the Coen brothers' related drama Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).{{cite magazine|last=Hirschorn|first=Michael|date=September 12, 2013|title=The Enduring, Multigenerational Appeal of Justin Timberlake|url=http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/the-enduring-multigenerational-appeal-of-justin-timberlake/|magazine=T|access-date=August 12, 2015}}

Scorsese would make a second documentary on Dylan fourteen years later, Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019), this time chronicling his 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour.

Soundtrack

{{Main|The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack}}

= Part I =

{{Expand section|date=December 2021}}

= Part II =

{{Expand section|date=December 2021}}

Credits

{{Expand section|date=December 2021}}

References

  • {{cite book|last=Shelton|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Shelton (critic)|year=2003|orig-year=1986|title=No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=0-306-81287-8}}

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb title|id=0367555}}
  • {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=1148076-no_direction_home_bob_dylan}}
  • {{BBC Online|id=music/bobdylan/tvradio/nodirectionhome/|title=No Direction Home}}

{{Bob Dylan}}

{{Martin Scorsese}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for No Direction Home

|list =

{{Grammy Award for Best Music Film}}

{{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials}}

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Category:2005 films

Category:2005 documentary films

Category:2000s American films

Category:2000s British films

Category:American Masters films

Category:BBC television documentaries

Category:Films about Bob Dylan

Category:Films directed by Martin Scorsese

Category:Films produced by Martin Scorsese

Category:Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video

Category:Peabody Award–winning broadcasts

Category:Rockumentaries

Category:British musical documentary films

Category:Grammy Award for Best Music Film winners

Category:Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award winners