Oh well, a little more on the Todd Haynes film — or actually on some things he’s said in an interview while promoting the movie. He and the film’s co-writer, Oren Moverman, talked to the JewishJournal.com. Naturally enough, the subject of interest to that publication was Dylan’s Jewishness or Judaism, although the article also says that the film doesn’t really deal with that aspect of Dylan’s identity. A couple of extracts from the piece:

Bob Dylan’s Jewish identity has long been a point of conflict and controversy. His short-lived conversion to born-again Christianity dismayed many, heartened a few and confused all. But at least two commentators are certain that Jewishness and Judaism inform the core of the former Robert Zimmerman’s beliefs and music.

Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman, the director-writer and co-writer, respectively, of the new Dylan biopic “I’m Not There,” which opens theatrically in wide release on Nov. 21, are convinced, after living with their project for many years, that Bob Dylan remains a Jew. [And how exactly would he stop being a Jew? -ed]

[...]

“That is the most secret and well-preserved of his personae,” Todd Haynes replied when asked about that gap at the New York Film Festival. “I think Dylan’s relationship to his Jewishness is much more private than any of the other roles he has played; it’s kept close to his relationship with his family life, and I don’t think we’re supposed to know more about it than that.”

“[Judaism] is the one central thing in his entire biography,” Moverman said in a telephone interview last week. “Whether it is overt or not, it is there. Even the Christian period occurred as a reaction against his Jewishness, and that lasted only three years, and the next thing you know, Dylan is doing Chabad telethon appearances.”

Hmmm. So Dylan’s Jewishness is at once very “secret” and at the same time is demonstrated by his appearances on television for a conspicuously Jewish charity. Hey, I know: If the film did deal with Dylan’s Jewishness, there would be one actor who was very overtly Jewish, sprinkled his conversation with Yiddish expressions and kept the Sabbath, and then there’d be another actor who denied being Jewish, and maybe went out and got a nose job or something. That would handle it.

On the other hand, is it possible that Bob is just being himself, and it’s some of the observers who have the hang-ups on this subject?

There’s so much that has been written and said on this topic — I don’t feel going through a litany of facts and figures right now. However, coincidentally, a reader (thank you Ray) sent me a link to this piece by Toby Janicki — someone who apparently isn’t so flummoxed by how someone like Dylan might identify with what is represented by both parts of the expression Judeo-Christian. Todd Haynes might find this angle enlightening, although it would then require him to find a third actor to portray the Dylan who doesn’t happen to see an unresolvable conflict in his own beliefs and behavior. This is getting expensive!

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