D. A. Pennebaker

Dont Look Back

Dont Look Back

Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in England during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist. In this wildly entertaining vision of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, Dylan is surrounded by teen fans, gets into heated philosophical jousts with journalists, and kicks back with fellow musicians Joan Baez, Donovan, and Alan Price. Featuring some of Dylan’s most famous songs, including “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Dont Look Back is a radically conceived portrait of an American icon that has influenced decades of vérité behind-the-scenes documentaries.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1967
  • 96 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • English
  • Spine #786

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director D. A. Pennebaker, with newly restored monaural sound from the original quarter-inch magnetic masters, presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 1999 featuring Pennebaker and tour manager Bob Neuwirth
  • 65 Revisited, a 2006 documentary by Pennebaker
  • Audio excerpt from a 2000 interview with Bob Dylan for the documentary No Direction Home, cut to previously unseen outtakes from Dont Look Back
  • New documentary about the evolution of Pennebaker’s filming style
  • Daybreak Express (1953), Baby (1954), and Lambert & Co. (1964), three short films by Pennebaker
  • New conversation between Pennebaker and Neuwirth about their work together
  • Snapshots from the Tour, a new piece featuring never-before-seen outtakes from Dont Look Back
  • New interview with musician Patti Smith
  • Conversation between music critic Greil Marcus and Pennebaker from 2010
  • Alternate version of the film’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” cue card sequence
  • Five audio recordings of Dylan songs not used in the film
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic and poet Robert Polito

    New cover by Eric Skillman

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director D. A. Pennebaker, with newly restored monaural sound from the original quarter-inch magnetic masters, presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 1999 featuring Pennebaker and tour manager Bob Neuwirth
  • 65 Revisited, a 2006 documentary by Pennebaker
  • Audio excerpt from a 2000 interview with Bob Dylan for the documentary No Direction Home, cut to previously unseen outtakes from Dont Look Back
  • New documentary about the evolution of Pennebaker’s filming style
  • Daybreak Express (1953), Baby (1954), and Lambert & Co. (1964), three short films by Pennebaker
  • New conversation between Pennebaker and Neuwirth about their work together
  • Snapshots from the Tour, a new piece featuring never-before-seen outtakes from Dont Look Back
  • New interview with musician Patti Smith
  • Conversation between music critic Greil Marcus and Pennebaker from 2010
  • Alternate version of the film’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” cue card sequence
  • Five audio recordings of Dylan songs not used in the film
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic and poet Robert Polito

    New cover by Eric Skillman
Dont Look Back
Cast
Bob Dylan
Joan Baez
Donovan
Alan Price
Albert Grossman
Bob Neuwirth
Credits
Director
D. A. Pennebaker
Producers
Albert Grossman
Producers
John Court
Producers
Leacock-Pennebaker, Inc.
Camera and editing
D. A. Pennebaker
Assistant camera
Howard Alk
Sound
Jones Alk
Concert sound
J. Robert Van Dyke
Footage of Dylan in Mississippi shot by
Ed Emshwiller

Current

Dont Look Back Outtakes
Dont Look Back Outtakes
We had some fun making the main menu for our new release of D. A. Pennebaker's groundbreaking documentary Dont Look Back. The menu’s video, a two-minute loop composed of rare footage from the film, is structured around an outtake of Bob Dylan perfo…
Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Dont Look Back
Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Dont Look Back
Our new release of Dont Look Back, D. A. Pennebaker's groundbreaking behind-the-scenes portrait of Bob Dylan and his famed 1965 tour, is out tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray and features a new interview with celebrated artist Patti Smith, a lifelong admir…
Dont Look Back: Everybody Loves You for Your Black Eye
Dont Look Back: Everybody Loves You for Your Black Eye

In Dont Look Back, legendary documentary filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker employs his revolutionary new camera and Direct Cinema style to capture the multiple essences and contradictions of a young Bob Dylan making his way across England in 1965.

By Robert Polito

Aaron Schimberg’s Top 10
Aaron Schimberg’s Top 10

The director of A Different Man pays tribute to great American go-getters Harold Lloyd and Samuel Fuller, contemplates the unique qualities of different periods in a director’s career, and shares a personal story about Monte Hellman.

Jessica Pratt’s Top 10
Jessica Pratt’s Top 10

Among the Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter’s favorites are a music documentary she knows by heart, a Wes Anderson film with an iconic soundtrack, and a courtroom drama propelled by brilliant character actors.

Andrew Bujalski’s Top 10
Andrew Bujalski’s Top 10

The writer-director of Computer Chess and Support the Girls lets his eye and heart wander freely through our collection, and gives us a list of some films he admires.


A Few Riffs for Penny
A Few Riffs for Penny

The late D. A. Pennebaker once dreamed of being a jazz musician, but he instead found his instrument in a news camera that allowed him to change documentary filmmaking forever.

By Michael Chaiken