Scene Analysis: I'm Not There - Reid Carrescia

In I’m Not There, director Todd Haynes portrays the life of Bob Dylan through six separate characters. Though each character conveys concepts about Dylan’s struggle in stardom, Dylan as “Billy the Kid” may seem to offer the most abstract depiction. One such notable scenario is the scene where Billy the Kid arrives in Riddle County, doomed for destruction.

Warned by his friend Homer that Riddle County will soon be demolished, Billy the Kid nonetheless ventures into town to find out for himself. Upon his arrival, the town is celebrating Halloween. However, crime is taking place, and a crowd solemnly gathers for a young girl’s funeral while a band play’s Dylan’s “Goin’ to Acapulca”. Everyone is fixated on the music despite the surrounding chaos. Billy the Kid joins the crowd in listening in and observes the town’s reaction to the music.

Mise en scene plays a vital role in contributing to the apocalyptic and desperate nature of this scene. The majority of the town, including the band, is dressed in costume, adding an overall a surreal mood to the town’s setting. The color white is also used. For example, the dead girl, the singer’s face, and the girl’s dress that approaches the stage are all white. Here, white is used to suggest a lack of life and thus, a “passing on” of one time to another. Symbolically, it portrays the feelings of dread and uncertainty felt by many during the turmoil of the sixties, which Dylan played a large part in reflecting upon through his art.

Soundtrack also serves to the film’s intentions. Dylan’s “Goin’ to Acapulco” conveys the change the town is going through, and on a broader level, the change that was going on during Dylan’s growing career in the sixties. The lyrics express the act of going to see a girl that provides comfort and happiness. Thus, the lyrics relate to the Riddle County’s yearning for sanctuary after the destruction of their town, and furthermore, people’s yearning for sanctuary in Dylan’s songs during the chaos of the sixties.

The cinematography in this scene is significant as well. While the line “I’m just the same as everyone else” is sung, the camera goes wide and pans throughout the crowd, uniting the town’s citizens and bringing them together as one. Under further analysis, this unification serves as a representation of people’s sense of unity through music while being faced with the hardships of the Vietnam War and the other numerous political disturbances of the day. Furthermore, close-up shots of Billy the Kid are placed between the shots of the community. These shots serve to convey Billy the Kid’s empathic reaction to what is happening to his town. These close-up shots symbolize Dylan’s artistic response to the disorder of his time through the outlet of his music.

Through use of mise en scene, sound, and cinematography, Todd Haynes helps create the plight of Bob Dylan faced with a chaotic world and the manner in which many turned towards his music for consolation. As the film is about Dylan’s search for identity, this scene stresses the difficult situation Dylan was in the direct eye of the public as someone with an enormous amount of cultural influence.