Shot in black and white with a handheld camera, Don't Look Back (1967) has been called a "fly on the wall" perspective on Bob Dylan. It was filmed in 1965 by well-known director DA Pennemaker, who later made documentaries about John Lennon and David Bowie. On the one hand, the film is designed to give audiences an up-close and personal look at Dylan, just as he is starting to gain wider acclaim, on his first UK tour. However, this is not so much a traditional documentary as an “impressionistic cinematic portrait”. (Farel, 2006). There is no voice-over narration and no coherent narrative. Most of the footage consists of snippets of Dylan hanging out, often in crowded hotel rooms, with other musicians, occasionally playing his best-known songs, such as "The Times They Are A-Changing." There is also extensive footage of Dylan answering "serious" questions from journalists about the content of his music and its influence. Invariably Dylan's responses are witty and ironic – or simply frivolous. This interplay between Dylan, the “serious” folk musician, and Dylan, the comedic, self-deprecating pop idol who harks back to the same media culture of which he is now uncomfortably a part, is evident from Don't Look Back's opening sequence. The sequence lasts just over two minutes (2:18) and is actually separate from the rest of the film, acting as a sort of formal introduction. In it, Dylan appears in the foreground of the frame, the obvious "star". It sits at the entrance to what appears to be an alley or small dirt road, a symbol that works on multiple levels. It is the “road” in the musical sense, the path of mass public performance that Dylan has just entered. But it's also symbolic of a larger journey unfolding before you... middle of the paper... "I'm just a guitarist, really," he tells a reporter, without a hint of irony. Or perhaps simply a man who writes down his ideas, but forgets, in the end, to read them. References Don't Look Back (1967) Film. Directed by DA Pennemaker. USA:Leacock/Pennemaker.Hilburn, Robert. (2004, April 4). The enigmatic Rock poet opens a long-private door. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com.Mamacampos. (2013, November 19). Bob Dylan Newport Festival. [Video on You Tube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbn_rKAW28U. Retrieved March 24, 2014. O'Farrel, Tim. (2006). No Direction Home: Looking Forward from “Don't Look Back.” Senses of cinema. 38. Retrieved from http://sensesofcinema.com.Shelton, Robert. (2003). No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan, New York: Da Capo Press.