PBS airs Bob Dylan documentary

"PBS airs Bob Dylan documentary
Scorsese makes noble attempt to decipher rock icon
By BILL BRIOUX -- Toronto Sun




CAN Martin Scorsese unravel the enigma that is Bob Dylan? The esteemed director will try in No Direction Home. Part of PBS's American Masters series, the authorized, four-hour portrait of the '60s music icon isn't scheduled until July.

Airing over two nights, the film will look at the Minnesota-born singer/songwriter from his Greenwich Village roots to his 1966 motorcycle accident.

Scorsese, who edited Woodstock in 1970 and chronicled Dylan's mates The Band in The Last Waltz, knows this turf.

He's currently working on a similar '60s music project with Mick Jagger.

He had access to over 20 hours of audio and video interviews (conducted by Dylan's manager, Jeff Rosen) but never met the man, preferring to search for the story through the music and poetry.

'I'm looking for clarity,' Scorsese told reporters Saturday at Universal City, Calif.


That's been an elusive target where Dylan is concerned.

Scorsese says Dylan (born Zimmerman) even quibbles with the long-held notion that he took his professional name from the poet Dylan Thomas.

'Dylan just says basically, 'I really don't care what I said then and I honestly don't care what I say now, either,' ' says Scorsese.

The film will include rare footage from a Canadian documentary shot in the '60s. Scorsese praised filmmaker Daryl Duke as 'an interesting director,' adding his footage of Dylan singing and strumming while walking through a logging community was 'quite moving at times.'

Scorsese says Dylan's 'flirtation and dancing with celebrity' is as fascinating as his music.

Everything came crashing down with the motorcycle accident, which makes it the perfect place to stop.

He doesn't see this as a TV show but as a film.

'I just feel that it's nonfiction -- maybe.'

With Dylan, you never know."