Masked and Anonymous
Masked and Anonymous | |
---|---|
Intermedia Films | |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (North America) BBC Partner Entertainment (United Kingdom) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes |
Countries | United States United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $546,106 |
Masked and Anonymous is a 2003 drama film directed by Larry Charles. The film was written by Larry Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter under the pseudonym "Sergei Petrov". It stars Dylan alongside a star-heavy cast, including John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, Val Kilmer, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Cheech Marin, Ed Harris, Chris Penn, Steven Bauer, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Paul Chan, Christian Slater, and Fred Ward.
Plot
An iconic rock legend, Jack Fate (Bob Dylan), is bailed out of prison to perform a one-man benefit concert for a decaying future North American society. The film touches on many subjects, from the futility of politics, to the confusion of loosely strung government conspiracies, to the chaos created by both anarchy and Nineteen Eighty-Four-styled totalitarianism. It further reflects on life, dreams, and God's place in a seemingly increasingly chaotic world.
Fate makes it clear that he "was always a singer and maybe no more than that". He produces no solutions to any of the problems the film presents. Rather, he makes it clear that he "stopped trying to figure everything out a long time ago".
Pre-production
In the late 1990s, Dylan was allegedly inspired by the films of
Charles said that during their initial meeting, a chain-smoking Dylan brought "out this very ornate beautiful box, like a
A meeting was arranged with HBO executives and the television project was given the green light. However, upon leaving the meeting, Dylan told Charles, "I don't want to do it anymore, it's too slapsticky".[1] Charles decided to stay on as co-writer and director, with the concept of the project eventually evolving from a slapstick television show into the dramatic film Masked and Anonymous. Speaking about his intentions while creating the film, Charles later said, "I wanted to make a Bob Dylan movie that was like a Bob Dylan song. One with a lot of layers, that had a lot of poetry, that had a lot of surrealism and was ambiguous and hard to figure out, like a puzzle".[2]
Production
The film was shot in twenty days and was funded by the
Many of the film's actors worked for "scale" (union wages) for a chance to appear alongside Dylan, including
Jessica Lange was the long-term partner of playwright Sam Shepard, who at Dylan's invitation had written a diary of his 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, Rolling Thunder Logbook. Shepard also co-wrote Dylan's 1986 song "Brownsville Girl" from the album Knocked Out Loaded).
Music from Dylan's entire career is presented in the movie, though his then recent album Time Out Of Mind receives considerable play, with "Dirt Road Blues" and "Not Dark Yet" both used as background in scenes; Dylan also plays a new arrangement of "Cold Irons Bound" in the film's climax. Furthermore, a live performance of "Standing in the Doorway" was cut from the final edit, but included as a bonus on the DVD.
Cast
- Bob Dylan as Jack Fate
- Jeff Bridges as Tom Friend
- Penélope Cruz as Pagan Lace
- John Goodman as Uncle Sweetheart
- Jessica Lange as Nina Veronica
- Luke Wilson as Bobby Cupid
- Angela Bassett as Mistress
- Steven Bauer as Edgar
- Michael Paul Chan as Guard
- Bruce Dern as Editor
- Ed Harris as Oscar Vogel
- Val Kilmer as Animal Wrangler
- Cheech Marin as Prospero
- Chris Penn as Crew Guy #2
- Giovanni Ribisi as Soldier
- Mickey Rourke as Edmund
- Richard C. Sarafian as President
- Christian Slater as Crew Guy #1
- Susan Tyrrell as Ella the Fortune Teller
- Fred Ward as Drunk
- Robert Wisdom as Lucius
Reception
Masked and Anonymous was given poor reviews upon release. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 24%, based on 82 reviews, and an average rating of 4.03/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Unintelligible and self-indulgent Bob Dylan vehicle".[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5]
Amongst the positive reviewers was The Washington Post, stating that the film is a "fascinating, vexing, indulgent, visionary, pretentious, mesmerizing pop culture curio".[7]
Dylan was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for his new rendition of "Down in the Flood" on the film's soundtrack.[14]
Unreleased recordings
From 1999 to 2002, Dylan's touring band was joined by veteran guitarist Charlie Sexton. Already an accomplished unit, the band's new configuration was acclaimed as one of Dylan's best touring groups ever.[15] Highlighted by the interplay of Sexton and guitarist Larry Campbell, the group also featured Dylan's longtime bassist Tony Garnier, as well as two drummers: David Kemper (who left the band in late 2001) and George Receli (who was Kemper's replacement). Dylan began filming Masked and Anonymous soon after Receli's arrival.
Masked and Anonymous marked the first (and besides one song on
The following songs were used for the film, but were never issued on CD: "Drifter's Escape" (a song from John Wesley Harding), "I'll Remember You" (a song from Empire Burlesque), "Blowin' in the Wind" (from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan), "Watching the River Flow" (a song dating from 1971, when it was released as a single), "Dirt Road Blues" (from Time Out Of Mind ) and "Amazing Grace" (traditional). Of these songs, only "I'll Remember You" was featured unedited and uninterrupted in the film.
As mentioned, "
As mentioned, a new recording of "Blowin' in the Wind" was used for the film. This is heard over the film's final shots and end credits. Unlike the other performances used in the film, this was a concert performance recorded at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California, on March 16, 2000 (when David Kemper was still with the band). This performance was previously found on the limited edition bonus CD single given away with The Best of Bob Dylan Vol. 2 in the United Kingdom, and it was also featured on a promo CD single Live & Rare 2. Approximately 45 seconds of the harmonica solo was cut for the film while the previous CD releases feature the performance unedited.
Soundtrack
No. | Title | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" | Jerry Garcia | 7:50 |
13. | "Cold Irons Bound" (live) | Bob Dylan | 5:43 |
14. | "City of Gold" | The Dixie Hummingbirds | 5:35 |
See also
References
- ^ a b c Business Insider article: "HBO Producer Reveals The Crazy Story Of When Bob Dylan Tried To Make A TV Show."
- ^ Robert, Daniel (6 April 2007). "Borat Director Larry Charles". Anderswolleck. SuicideGirls. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- AllMusic
- ^ a b "Masked and Anonymous (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (15 August 2003). "Masked And Anonymous". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Hornaday, Ann (5 September 2003). "'Masked': Riddled With Dylan". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- Sony Classics. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (14 August 2003). "Doses of Reality". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (23 January 2010). "Ten Best Lists, 2000-2004". JonathanRosenbaum.net. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Dylan in darkest America". Salon. 25 July 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ Greenman, Ben (4 August 2003). "Masked And Anonymous". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ "Some Came Running". Some Came Running. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Bob Dylan". GRAMMY.com. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Recording With Bob Dylan, Chris Shaw Tells All!". UNCUT. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2021.