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I visited the Gene Siskel Film Center (where I am a member) tonight, a very brisk Chicago evening, and was treated to a wonderful viewing experience: Murray Lerner's curious and bleak exhibition of a documentary entitled "The Other Side of the Mirror."  To call it a documentary is something of a stretch, considering there are no interviews, voiceovers, or even the slightest notion of any one filmmaker's opinion.  It's just a well-assembled collection of rare footage from the Newport Folk Festival during the years of 1963, 1964, & 1965 when a little ol' bird of a boy named Bob Dylan was belting at the top of his lungs some memorable folk tunes that "meant something."

Suffice it to say, Dylan wins over the festival's hip young crowd during the '63 concert and "Mirror" continues to propel forward over the next two years and reveals to the audience the more round-faced, long-haired, and leather jacket-toting rock star that Dylan would ultimately become.  The only problem was that his folk focus group was not kin to the change--or to Dylan's acoustic guitar being replaced by an electric one (and a hell of an awesome band).  The last twenty minutes of "Mirror" are especially engrossing as we hear the boos coming from the folk crowd toward Dylan's electric "Maggie's Farm" and "Like A Rolling Stone" tunes.

All this sound familiar?  

It should.  Scorsese tackled this plot development of Dylan's career brilliantly in his "No Direction Home" back in 2005, but here this segment of rock history gets more context and thus weighs more heavily on the viewer's own instincts.  Did Dylan sell out?  Were the people at Newport that ignorant to change or at recognizing great music?  Was that sweat pouring down the left side of Dylan's face or was that an unexpected tear of desire as he tried to win back the crowd by performing a rushed acoustic pick of "Mr. Tambourine Man"?  You decide.

The new year is still tender, and aside from seeing "There Will Be Blood" for the third time, watching "The Other Side of the Mirror" was the first great moviegoing experience of 2008.  Catch it on the cinema screen before this Thursday the 17th; after that you'll be forced to order a DVD from Amazon or something.