The Ballad of A J Weberman
Synopsis
Bob Dylan once said 'I don't think I'm gonna be really understood until maybe 100 years from now'. Author of the Dylan To English Dictionary, a Dylanologist and originator of Garbology (the practice of rooting through rubbish in order to gain insight into prominent people's lives), A J Weberman has made it his life's work to understand Bob Dylan.
At times hilarious, at other times disturbing, this film is an interesting observation on our unbalanced desires to know more about celebrities and how far we are willing to go to get that information. Weberman does not see himself as a stalker and insists that Dylan should be grateful that he is around: 'I would have been to Dylan what Verlaine was to Rimbaud'. It's hard to see this as a tale of poet and critic, but rather a look at the bizarre relationship between the obsessed and the object of his obsession and how it can completely take over a man's life.
A hilarious recorded telephone conversation between A J Weberman and Bob Dylan from the 1970s punctuates the film in the form of animations, creating connections between Weberman's past and present. The film also enjoys a memorable cast of secondary characters including New York street poet David Peel, former child dancer Jay Byrd and Aaron Kay 'The Pieman'. To top it all, the film features a vivid Americana soundtrack performed by cast members, which adds a surreal commentary to the proceedings, creating a documentary like no other.
Details
- Year
- 2008
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 83 mins
- Format
- Beta/ DV Cam
- Director
- James Bluemel, Oliver Ralfe 1st Feature
- Producer
- James Bluemel, Oliver Ralfe
- Editor
- James Bluemel
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 23rd October 2007
