Bob Dylan's Performances Immortalized on DVD

He was the "voice of a generation." With his black curly hair, guitar, harmonica and profound lyrics, Bob Dylan used his music to communicate the ideals of 1960s "counter-culture" youth.

Filmmaker and director Murray Learner used his footage from the Newport Folk Festival to put together a story, "The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965." It is a chronology of the power of folk music during the sixties and Bob Dylan's growth from 1963 to 1965 into a celebrity fighting for peace and political consciousness.

Murray Learner believed that folk music and the Newport Folk Festival captured the "spirit" of America during the 1960s; it was a fight against conformity and a search for what society repressed. Learner, like many at the festival, was captivated by Bob Dylan and excited about the power of his music; most notably, his deep lyrics.

"The Other Side of the Mirror" is filmed in black and white without narration, and uses Dylan's performances to create a story. The film demonstrates to viewers the excitement of Dylan's music and the way it resonated with his fans.

Learner and festival attendees were fascinated by Dylan during his first performance at the festival in 1963. As he sings songs like "North Country Blues," "With God on Our Side," and "Blowin' in the Wind" the crowd listens quietly, reflecting on the lyrics which are executed clearly by Dylan's signature scratchy voice.

The film begins with a sneak peak at his controversial 1965 performance, which is the highlight of the movie. The fans amassed during his midday concerts and ambushed his car as he tried to leave. In the film, Dylan looks sad because he can't greet all his fans, "They're all my friends," he told the camera.

Dylan's 1965 concert is infamous because this was the year he went electric. In all of his previous performances, it was just his voice, an acoustic guitar, a microphone and his harmonica.

The massive crowd listens, mesmerized during Dylan's set in '64, once he finishes a song or leaves the stage, the fans explode with a strange enthusiasm for his performances. They boo as he leaves and beg him for an encore. The film presents the electric versions of the songs clearly; it shows the new direction of music and the power that electric guitars add to an already explosive song. But the fans didn't hear it the way the DVD presents it. The sound quality was not so clear in 1965, and the fans were not used to this new rock 'n' roll Dylan. They wanted their songs played the way they knew them.

At the end of the two songs, you can hear the strong reaction of the crowd; some of them applauded, some of them shouted, but a lot of them booed. After "Like A Rolling Stone," Dylan leaves the stage, but is encouraged back to perform "Mr. Tambourine Man," and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," solo, with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica thrown to him from a person in the crowd.

Dylan is timeless; his potent lyrics and music can still be applied to our situations today; he is that important and powerful.