Dont Look Back Film Analysis

Documentary narratives are, regardless of who or what the film is about, told from the directors point of view – this creates a problem with the “truth” that is presented. Despite documentaries association with dependable information, every film has a bias based on editing, footage, and context. Dont Look Back is a 1967 film about Bob Dylan’s tour in England, directed by D.A. Pennebaker, and Barbra Kopple’s Harlan County, USA from 1976 focuses on the miner’s protest in the Appalachian poverty belt. Pennebaker and Kopple have distinctly different motives for their films, creating a contrast between how the “truth” is expressed in each film.
Dont Look Back is a collection of moments from Dylan’s tour depicting the musician in a variety of ways: Pennebaker, while simultaneously critiquing the media, juxtaposes scenes of Dylan fighting openly with the press and moments later, charming his young fans and singing wholesome songs on stage. The films release was accompanied by an assortment of negative and positive reactions by the press – ironically, Pennebaker’s goal with the film was to comment on the systematic endeavors of the media. As a cinema vérité
The film follows the strike through a year, documenting the repeated failures of the miners’ attempts to get fair treatment for their tedious (and often deadly) work. Kopple’s film presents its truth not with story, but with a chronicle, accessorized by a touching bluegrass soundtrack, stunning cinematography, and poignant voiceovers of her own past as a native from the Appalachians. In comparison to Dont Look Back, Kopple’s 1970s filmmaking style involved her (and her crews) active participation in spending time and implicating themselves during protests when necessary, making her camera an essential subject along with the