Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Documentary covering Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England, which includes appearances by Joan Baez and Donovan.I confess I know very little about Bob Dylan. I know his real name is Robert Zimmerman, and I know some of his bigger hits. But this is the first time I ever really saw him interacting with anyone... and it is a very strange sight.You might presume that this documentary would be trying to show Dylan in a positive light. And in a way, it does, because we get to see his intelligence and talent. But he also comes off as incredible rude and confrontational, as well as a bit of a braggart, saying he can sing better than Caruso. How much is this an act and how much was the young Dylan sort of a jerk?

Although Dylan, on the whole, still scares me somewhat, and I can't still quite get into his music, I do like D.A. Pennebaker quite a lot, and decided to finally see this. Much like my favorite "concert" film of all time, Depeche Mode 101, Pennebaker doesn't really focus on the music (in this case, Dylan was on tour of England at the time), but focuses on the inner-workings of the tour, and most importantly, on the man himself. Dylan doesn't hold back, and seems comfortable with the camera in front of him as he goes with the day to day operations of being Bob Dylan. There are some nuggets here, Dylan's feelings about Donovan, Dylan gets into a loud argument with an unidentified person about throwing a glass off the hotel balcony. And you also get to see a lot of Joan Baez. Ack. lol. What I dug about this is the whole 60'sness of it all, look at the kids arriving to the concert in their shirts and ties! Such well mannered blokes! Fun film that I wouldn't mind seeing again,

This celebrated documentary chronicles Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of the United Kingdom in which he still plays a solo acoustic folk set; in fact, it takes care to touch briefly on his beginnings as a troubadour in Greenwich Village and socio-political gatherings. Even so, the film starts out with a pre-credits sequence showing in its entirety the iconic video of Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" which, of course, features famed beatnik writer Allen Ginsberg as a bemused onlooker. The song had been the opener of his ground-breaking album "Bringing It All Back Home" (although it was also known in some quarters by the name of the song itself) which signalled in no uncertain terms his change of pace in musical direction via a total embrace of the electric sound of Rock music.Although Dylan went to England just as Beatlemania had peaked, he does not get to meet them here although the band are announced as being in the audience of one of his concerts; incidentally, his notoriously hazy meeting with John Lennon in a taxicab would be ever so briefly captured for posterity in Dylan's own ragged follow-up film, EAT THE DOCUMENT (1972) which, while also shot by Pennebaker the following year, was compiled by Dylan himself and one Howard Alk (who is his right hand-man throughout DON'T LOOK BACK itself). Indeed, Dylan – who is accompanied by his heavy-set bespectacled manager Albert Grossman and fellow folk icon Joan Baez – is here seen seeking out the company of such British 'rivals' as Alan Price (who had just left The Animals at the time; lest we forget, the band's biggest hit, "House Of The Rising Sun", had previously been recorded by Dylan himself on his 1962 self-titled debut album) and Donovan who were, likewise, talented musicians struggling to reach further out into the Pop world. Dylan is often heard being cynical of Donovan beforehand but their eventual meeting in the former's dressing-room – where he regales the Scotsman with a rendition of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (the closing track from the aforementioned "Bringing It All Back Home" album) – is one of the highlights of the film.Other memorable sequences show Dylan composing on a typewriter(!) in his hotel room as Joan Baez is propped up nearby singing on a sofa and strumming a guitar; Grossman negotiating Dylan's upcoming TV appearances with a local promoter; Dylan going apeshit when an inebriated local throws something out of his hotel room window and Dylan's entourage get blamed for the ensuing fracas!; Dylan arguing about his enigmatic persona with a skeptical interviewer; and doing the reverse with a nerdy layman fan who keeps following him around (aided by the occasional sarcastic interjection from Alan Price)! The film is eventually capped by an unforgettable closing line and image: "Give the anarchist a cigarette" uttered by a shade-wearing Dylan as he looks out the window of his travelling car at English nightlife.The title of the film instantly reminds one of a lyric in Dylan's contemporaneous song, "She Belongs To Me" (the second track off of the "Bringing It All Back Home" album) but, according to Pennebaker himself, the similarity was purely coincidental! Regrettably, the film never shows the live performances or press conferences in their entirety but the snippets shown of both work remarkably well in 'explaining' to uninitiated viewers (and almost half-a-century later at this juncture) the sheer magnitude of Dylan's music and personality at that point in his career when, it must be said, he was all of 23 years old! DON'T LOOK BACK has been released as a "Special Edition DVD" but I actually acquired it via a hardsubbed Italian TV transmission, recorded as a double-feature with Jim Jarmusch's Neil Young concert feature, YEAR OF THE HORSE (1997)!

The movie follows Dylan on tour throughout England. The beginning of the movie starts with a Dylan song in the background and a famous cue-card scene depicting the words of the song. Here we get an interesting visual and are drawn into what is going on in the film. We then travel with Dylan on the road and in the studio, meeting with fans and other musicians to make the full spectrum of what he does as an artist. We are able to understand all sides of the music for him and by seeing him interact with his fans and make music we see a side of the artist that most never get to fully understand. The movie is never has a true time line, it is a stream of images from one concert to the next. Because of this, we are able to see Dylan as a person who stays the same no matter where he is and that what he is truly about is the music and performing. The whole movie focuses on Dylan and has a constant influx of other characters. We see the press, fans, his manager, and other business people. Throughout the movie, we never really know whom those people are, making the movie completely about Bob Dylan and his life. These other people are merely characters in his life, but he is the real important person. D.A. Pennebaker, the documentarian, is never a character either, showing that the movie is all about Dylan and not about the other people around. This allows for a deeper understanding of the singer and lets the audience see who he is for themselves, without riddling their opinion with interviews with other people. D.A. Pennebaker has an artistic flair for music and introducing people to the deeper meaning in it. He has done other works about John Lennon, Jerry Lewis, and Jimi Hendrix. This shows that he understands the music genre and it is a place that he has delved many times. He is known for having the direct cinema style to his work. He just allows the camera to roll and it is a natural and true look at what is going on with the people he is documenting. The whole movie is an easy flow of life, combining scenes of travel and life on the road with songs of Dylan's to capture to true mood of the tour. The music is key because to truly understand Bob Dylan, you must understand the music. He writes very personal music and by using that in the documentary we are able to gain a better understanding of the man himself. Even those that go to see him understand that his music is important and something that is changing people and the way people think. So to have all the music be Dylan's allows the viewer to understand both Dylan and the impact that he had on the people during his tour. The editing of the film is consistent with the direct cinema style. There are no real cut aways or a narrator; rather there are sequences of people talking all together that then go into Dylan playing. Whenever music is being played, there is no interview or audio being used over it, it is just Dylan playing in concert or with his group of friends. Because it was edited this way we are able to hear the music and realize how important it is to the film and to the life of Bob Dylan. It is edited to seem as one constant period of time; we never see the real change as time goes on. The tour continues but it is never edited to seem as though things change from place to place. The great editing combines with the interesting cinematography that Pennebaker uses in the documentary. The film was done all in black and white and has a mix of shots that were used. The black and white is generally grainy with a balance of black and white. Pennebaker shoots the time backstage, in hotels, and in concert as if we are there. It is as if we are naturally sitting there with Dylan and all of his managers and others that tour with him. There are close up shots that show Dylan playing either on stage or behind the scenes and this gives the viewer the sense of how much he thinks and works on his songs. Most of the camera work is very controlled, though there are times where they are walking backstage, or trying to escape from a concert hall that the camera is very shaky. However, the shaky camera work allows the viewer to feel as if we are part of the tour and that we are there with them. Overall, the film Don't Look Back shows a side of Bob Dylan that most are unable to see. We see the person behind the songs and are able to understand Dylan as a person. We see that he is somewhat cocky about himself and tends to want things done his own way. We see all the chaos that follows touring as a famous star and how someone like Dylan deals with that. He is outspoken and passionate about what he believes. Pennebaker is able to give us this in depth look at Dylan and let the fans become more a part of the artist. It is a great look at Dylan and frames his life and music in a way that makes it more accessible and understandable to the general public. Looking back now, over 40 years later, we can see how Dylan started and translate that into his fame that continues today. We can see why he is one of the best artists of our time.