A general movie-going audience would expect Todd Haynes' film I'm Not There to be a biopic about Bob Dylan. However, it goes beyond a regular biographical film and transforms into something quite unexplainable. Complete with a vast array of actors portraying Dylan, choppy flashbacks and flash forwards, and shot cuts of the narrator in an eerie black and white setting, I'm Not There can be considered a posthumous homage to a character who the audience sees as ambiguous. In short, even while this person is alive, we never really know who they truly are.

For one, the text in the opening credits say it all. The actors' names flicker on and off like motel lights. Some letters disappear, others remain. And another name takes its place. Just like the different characters in the movie portray different stages and personas of Dylan's life, the text also does. Even the title of the film itself has an aura of uncertainty. It suggests that what the audience is about to see is a film in which the protagonist (or in this case, protagonists), doesn't know who he or she is and would rather live vicariously through another life. A good example of this is the scene in which Cate Blanchett's character of Jude Quinn would rather play like a little kid with the Beatles than do an interview for his career. Jude even says during a press conference, "Do we even know what people means?" This further emphasizes Dylan's plea for individuality and an anti-authority, non-conformist society.

The film also switches back and forth between color and black and white. While an aesthetic choice, I do feel that Haynes did it as a way to perhaps distinguish lapses of time to make the choppy flashbacks seem a little more clear. To me, the black and white scenes always took on a dismal tone (i.e. Jude's drug induced 60's mod party), whereas the scenes in color showed positive progression in Dylan's life (i.e. the motif of autumn leaves represents Dylan, played by Richard Gere, in the later stages of his life as a hideaway). This switch in the color of the film itself helps to further emphasize the many different personalities of Bob Dylan.

And finally, the idea of change is apparent throughout the film. For example, the scene in which Heath Ledger's character gets in a fight with his wife about the role of women causes his friend to question his choices. Clearly, Ledger's character is cocky from the fame and his friend calls him out on it saying, "You've changed." That seems to be the common thought of Dylan's peers throughout the whole film, even if it's not worded in that way. And even at the conclusion of the film, Jude questions these expectations and rants about being labeled a "folk singer who sings about political stuff." Haynes seems to be saying that Dylan, or anyone else for that matter, should never give in to others' expectations and that you are who you are and no one will truly know the real you except for yourself.