We've had a couple of Bob Dylan films in recent years, in Martin Scorsese's brilliant documentary No Direction Home, and in Todd Haynes' oddball biopic I'm Not There, in which the iconic singer songwriter was played by Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Ben Whishaw, Cate Blanchett and Marcus Carl Franklin. Now, Brazilian production company RT Features has picked up the rights to Dylan's 1975 album **Blood On The Tracks, with an eye to producing a "classic drama".
Blood On The Tracks was released in the fallout from Dylan's acrimonious separation from his first wife Sara, and its ten tracks are widely assumed to be inspired by that break-up. Jakob Dylan says the album is "my parents talking". Dylan himself once told an interviewer that he found it hard to fathom the album's popularity, since it implied "enjoying that type of pain," but he's also denied that it's in any way autobiographical. In his typically gnomic autobiography, he claims the songs are all inspired by Anton Chekhov.
Quite what shape the film will take remains to be seen. A relationship drama seems most likely, we guess, but some of the songs seem worthy of adaptation in their own right. The epic Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts has actually had two screenplays based on it in the past, although neither made it to the screen.
Producers Rodrigo Teixeira and Fernando Loureiro don't seem to be looking to Chekhov, but say, "Our goal is to work with a filmmaker who can create a classic drama with characters and an environment that capture the feelings that the album inspires. As long-time admirers of one of the greatest albums in the history of music, we feel privileged to be making this film."
Are they talking a lot of Idiot Wind? Are there Buckets Of Rain in store for them? Or will they find Shelter From The Storm, through a Simple Twist Of Fate? Give us your thoughts on how best to film Bob Dylan's fifteenth album in the comments below.