Dylan is right, the times are changing. Yet I never thought I would have lived long enough when I got a Dylan musical performance with only blah blah blah and no music to show off his genius.

Welcome to the 21st Century where everyone's favorite sound is the ring of the electronic cash machine. To say the least, I was shocked to no end upon hearing the Dylan DVD "No Direction Home" put together by academy award hollywood marvel Martin Scorcese.

Chop, chop, chop. Not the interviews with the so-called friends of the gifted loner Bob Dylan, who claims very few actually really know him. Chop, chop, chop to all the musical stage show performance by the guitar bard himself.

This DVD is the bluff pulled off by the moneymakers. The Dylan name is an attraction strong enough to catch anyone's attention in the music store. It caught mine and I lost big time. Not only $20 but the high expectation of seeing some concert footage of the legendary musician himself.

What this DVD boils down to is yak yak yak. Joan Baez yaks about Bob Dylan, Martin Scorese yaks about Bob Dylan, even Bob Dylan yaks about Bob Dylan. If Dylan asked himself the same questions a few days later, I'm sure he would come up with a totally different answer to any questions about himself. Such is the Dylan mystic.

So why even try to delve into his psyche? He's a poet, his songs are him. Not words thrown at a camera, words that are likely to change with the weather.

Okay, I must admit, I read an 800-page biography on Bob Dylan a few years ago. It was a fascinating book although it ended up revealing little about Dylan, even though it laid down the tracks to his life, that started in Duluth, Minnesota, where his father was manager at an appliance store.

So what I heard on this video was old hat. Worse, it was opinions praising endlessly the man. Does anyone want my opinion, he''s a comtemporary genius, but only time will tell how great he truly is.

As far as this DVD all I could say it I got smashed right in the wallet. First of all, Martin Scorceses is also a genius moviemaker. Mean Street, The Goodfellas, the Taxi Driver all were top notch movies proven Scoreces' genius. So where did this DVD go wrong? Two artistic geniuses working together. It went wrong because they keep on cutting, chopping, deny the fans concert footage of Dylan's songs. Subterrainan Home Sick Blue lasted the longest two whole minutes. Other songs, The Ballad of the Thin Man, Tom Thumb, were chopped, chopped, chopped.

What did I get instead was interviews by thoses who speak to Dylan probably not so often. Plus footage of the 60s Civil Rights, JFK assassin, Anti-Vietnam.

The Times are a Changing. In 1991, I saw Bob Dylan perform at West Point Military Academy with US military cadets whopping it up in honor of the gifted bard. I guess no one bothered telling Scorcese of this concert. He was too busy trying to recreate the 60's Dylan, which has been long gone now for close to 40 years.

How about Dylan's faith conversation in his album "Slow Train Coming."

As Dylan sings on that album we have to serve somebody, but I was served only morsels of stall hamburgers with this DVD.

Why bother doing a documentary on Dylan except to make money. He's way to complicated an artist even for an 800-page biography book, let alone a DVD.

All I could say, I should have known better. Yet the wish to see Dylan in action was too great a temptation. The bottom line is I felt duped, not by Dylan but everyone who put together this DVD.

In the far distance, I could still hear that cash register sing, Come back Soon. I will though only now with more warriness about what's in it for me. I know what's in it for them, all I ask is for is to get my money's worth, a taste of Dylan's musical genius. I don't think I'm asking for too much, maybe I am. The Times They are a Changing. And the cashing registers are a Ringing.








Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4