No Direction Home - On the trail of Rimbaud, the man who inspired Bob Dylan

The historian and travel writer Charles Nicholl pursues the trail of the enigmatic French poet Arthur Rimbaud into the Horn of Africa.
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Original title: No Direction Home
Directed by Ron Orders
© 1994, Cinecontact Ron Orders

[@noahfranks984]

Now that was a very good documentary.

[@suejowell]

about wHAT??????

[@springheeledjack165]

Very little about Rimbaud, more just the British exotic locations traveling fetish.

[@john-carlosynostroza]

Awesome documentary

[@middayz]

About a poet they called sue in France but he didn't care, so he went to Harar. Pretty sad story really, but incredible journey!

[@arupsengupta2454]

How to make an ethnographic documentary out of a poet's wanderings

[@warlockofwordsreturnsrb4358]

That work of that quality was written by someone before the age of twenty is utterly gobsmacking, many of my favourite writers sang his praises in one form or another over the decades - William Burroughs, Samuel Beckett, HP Lovecraft called him a 'titan', Patti Smith, Iain Sinclair, Jean Cocteau, the list goes on winding its way through most of the interesting writers in the world.

[@petercrossley2956]

But what has this pointless travelogue got to do with poetic genius ?

[@MrGiorgioud]

Brilliant documentary. Just like the presenter, I discovered Rimbaud when I was 15. He became the backbone of my cultural formation. It was great this investigation in this mysterious chapter in the poet's life, after he was no longer a seer....

[@darylcumming7119]

Thank you, life after poetry.

[@antwortmir4451]

Definitely something! Rimbaud's commercial odyssey told without melodramatic hoopla. Down to earth narrative (but) without becoming dull or sarcastic

[@smileybyronbay]

I think in "Somebody else", they say that the house/museum he enters in this doco was proved not to be where he lived. But it is currently the "Rimbaud museum". His place was concluded to be demolished by memory from that book, but they have a rough estimate of its location, the street it was on. This doco was made in 1990 or something, before they made it the museum and long before the "Somebody else" came out. Still a good docume tary though, nice find!!.

[@struttingbirdlofi]

Geez get over yourself presenter haters. I'm not a fan of Dylan myself, but the presenter was just conveying what Rimbaud meant to him which was via Dylan one of HIS favourite artists not EVERYONE'S. When you make your own documentary on Rimbaud, you can call it whatever you like (:

[@middayz]

Thank you, you are right. It's actually a very effective film on the journey of the poet in Africa. I was touched & learned some about the Horn of Africa from it. I think it is humbly beautiful.

[@glennhall8665]

👏👏👏👏

[@olcotttheosophy]

I read about Arthur Rimbaud (1854-'91) in the The Beacon. The Beacon journal would have given more coverage for him including his photo. His poemsand world view became popular.

[@olcotttheosophy]

I have no idea to buy this book. But If it is sent to me I can read it.

[@SECTOSECTO]

Fabulous Narration

[@tattoofthesun]

Wonder if they sell this Kat on amazon

[@jackwild8019]

He was the vagabond poet also beloved by Jim Morrison and all true bohemians adrift in the theatre of the absurd and the fleeting 🎭

[@Shadowsuit]

Rimbaud was nothing alike them, they wished just 1 minute to have his freedom. He did really what the wind expected of him. Those Dylan and Morrison are just fakes, wishing to just touch his freedom. They are pathetic copies

[@andersliljevall2946]

R. was a strong person. 10 years in that place would kill anyone

[@Ruffwun]

bob dylan reference is cringe

[@middayz]

I thought it was beautifully cringy.

[@starvingbuddha7622]

For me it was Morrison and Bauhaus

[@PAULLONDEN]

Kat seems indeed somewhat necessary to get through hot humid climates.

[@Dazbog373]

I wonder if Ilham Omar was a refugee of this war. Great documentary about so much more than the enfant terrible of French symbolism.

[@robanderson1470]

Does anyone know the song that was playing when he spoke to that lady in French in her home?

[@kimmccabe1422]

Awesome poet. @Dylan (Dylan Thomas, Rimbaud) and Beatles (stolen nursery rhymes), Bob Marley (The Bible) for ex. -Ain't nothing new under the sun. But once in a while we get the genuine original writer like here

[@afritimm]

All the focus on Rimbaud in Africa is a little odd, since his writing was finished before he ever went to Africa, i.e. it was not an influence. He stopped writing at 20. Nor were his years in Africa particularly interesting in and of themselves. At that time, the 1880s, there were lots of French people venturing out into the French colonies of Africa, just as there were lots of English. But I guess it adds some romance to the bohemian myth.

[@blossie33]

Great to see this again - I remember watching it on TV! A fascinating and poetic film on a very interesting character.

[@ManalDammaj]

In which year was this video made?

[@springheeledjack165]

Early 90s

[@springheeledjack165]

You can tell by the hosts personal camera.

[@scoon2117]

1994

[@mollkatless]

At 7:00 mark, are those really French Legionaries or the Village People pretending to be Legionaries? I just ask, because, you know, those dudes are wearing really small little shorts, and I can't imagine too many heteros signing up for those short-shorts - just wow :(

[@hyoroemonmeto6874]

Vampire Bund send me here

[@clgraff76]

The man who made this smokes 10 thousand packs of cigarettes a day.

[@Xonline9]

my guys eating Khat like it's heroin

[@LordStompyHarpLoonyTunes]

Bob Dylan was a profit. Rimbaud was a great poet & existentialist misanthrope. He really provided a foundation for a somewhat narcissistic existentialist artistic vein that a lot of famous 20th century artists mined later on...the difference being Rimbaud was the real deal hard life drifter & man of fortune & those that came later in his footsteps were somewhat cushioned from the extreme hardships he willingly endured by the luxuries of the 20th century

[@grahambates7162]

I thought Rimbaud actually died in hospital in France after the amputation of his leg, due to the cancer having already spread. Charles Nicholl, at the end of this doco tells us he died in transit - I don't think that's correct.

[@daviddd99]

I think maybe the 'in transit' remark refers to his attempt to return to Africa after his amputation and sojourn in France. After staying at the family farm in Roche, he went to Marseilles and died in hospital there.

[@Yeah--mn9qk]

david sloan was he bisexual or gay

[@grahambates7162]

@@Yeah--mn9qk He was sexual.

[@daviddd99]

@@Yeah--mn9qk According to Graham Robb's biography and the famous affair he had with Verlaine, the rational conclusion must be that he was bisexual.

[@Yeah--mn9qk]

david sloan has he been with a girl before?

[@ryanjeanes5253]

sad

[@joejones9520]

doesnt seem to have anything to do with rimbaud, main purpose seems to be to show how awful the non-western world is!

[@middayz]

How awful WAR IS. Besides, he never found much left of Rimbaud. And he mentions Russia China & USA bombshells deals. Sad.

[@MrTroposphere]

I love Charles Nicholl's book on Rimbaud: Somebody Else. It's a classic study. This film is a little discursive but still very atmospheric

[@christopherpaul7588]

"The Man Who Inspired Bob Dylan"? You could have left off that part of the title. I'm pretty sure he's been an inspiration to most singers/ songwriters and poets of the 20th Century. His influence on the Beat writers was immeasurable.

[@gregoryswift9573]

Christopher Paul most notably Jim Morrison. The moved to France

[@yoyossarian9468]

I saw that and cringed

[@joejones9520]

right, made me cringe...i never got the bob dylan fascination.

[@josiahprofenno4136]

@joe jones Commoners always obsess over musicians; especially those of lyrical prowess.

[@elijahthomas6102]

Josiah Profenno “commoners always obsess over musicians” what a snobbish comment. Rimbaud would have fucking hated you.

[@ThosCavendish-tq9no]

Just discovered this excellent documentary. As a fourteen year old I was totally enamoured by Rimbaud's poetry, it spoke to my own disturbed and wandering soul. I used to look at detailed maps, planning my journey to Harar to follow in the soles of his shoes and perhaps to find him. Of course I never did, although now in my sixties my love for his work has remained with me. This film goes some way to find closure in his story for me, and I found it very moving.

[@juicylucy5797]

Rimbaud the failed business man is also another literary invention of Rimbaud, carefully crafted to avoid having to give his fortune to the French tax office. See Graham Robb's excellent biography for more details.

[@Santyago1966]

Really?? Was he working on his image after he left poetry aside?...

[@helenamaria710]

Amazing how free people were to roam about in those days. With money...one could spend months in any European country ...as he did. Times have changed!!😮

[@afritimm]

Huh? There's never been more "roaming" in all of history than there is right now. Moreover, RImbaud lived in poverty most of the time after he left home. Also as a Frenchman, he had access to all the French colonies in Africa at that time, as well as the French authorities in those territories.

[@springheeledjack165]

I love the style of this documentary, but its more about the region than Rimbaud.

[@petercrossley2956]

I say it again, what has this film to do with poetic genius ?

[@arthurrimbaud8508]

I dig Bob Dylan's music

[@middayz]

Me too...x a poet

[@chopin65]

Not much on Rimbaud. Some drug use.

[@the19thcentury81]

We might not have ever heard of him if his father had been there to care for his son along with the rest of his progeny.

[@tattoofthesun]

LMAO WHEN he starts flipping out about channel 4

[@thinkerly1]

When he was having trouble getting on the train because he did not have written permission from the station, this shows two things: 1) He should have paid the station master to give him written permission or 2) he should have paid the guy blocking him. Poor places run on bribery.

[@kosovoblues5019]

don't think that Rimbaud inspired Dylan ,at least in the early days. Who took the path of Rimbaud visions and others ,was one of the few true poets of the rock era,J.Morrison

[@marko0samec]

exactly - BRAVO!!!

[@LordStompyHarpLoonyTunes]

In Ray Manzarek's book he claims Jim had read all of Nietzsche's works by the age of 21. Jim's IQ was tested at university it was 149. The guy was next level genius in any sense of the word

[@steveparadise]

Best part of this was the dude feeding a wild hyena

[@middayz]

That was a real horror show.

[@emrebaranbayak6737]

bro just called rimbaud the man who inspired bob dylan lmao tell me you're american without telling me you're american

[@juds2u]

I just came across a reference to Rimbaud in Camus’ “The Myth is Sisyphus” and so glad to find myself here to learn more about Rimbaud.

[@MrVink-nd6bw]

22:36 Not the Dutch navy, but the Dutch East Indies Army - which was basically a Dutch version of the Foreign Legion.

[@kosovoblues5019]

military are the same almost everywhere : brainwashed

[@middayz]

& dangerous killers

[@neilbush9873]

Good music commentary and filming with a romantic mystical heartfelt mission beautifully accomplished

[@159India1]

Fascinating. Well done, given such extraordinary conditions. Your voyage has helped me better understand the paintings of Rimbaud by the French artist, Jules Franck Mondoloni, who in 1991, the centennial of Rimbaud’s death, painted 100 paintings in homage to the renown poet.

[@theart8039]

I have been looking for this documentar for many years, As a distant cousin of his, I too stood at Steamer Point aged 6 , but I didnt know who was my ancestor; but I walked in his exact steps. Our family still dont talk of him much, and I want to change that

[@justinbordwell9282]

Do you carry the name rimbaud as well?

[@theart8039]

@@justinbordwell9282 No but my great Grandmother was Rimbault. My surname is Carpentier but on my 16th Birthday 2 years ago we went to Rimbaud grave in Charleville to lay some flowers. We are working with a DNA company now to trace back to Fredrick ( my great great Uncle) and there is a documentary planned sometime

[@jaycovia7551]

The man shaking his head at 46:58 says it all.

[@davidkorgan7069]

haha yes might as well be Rimbaud reincarnated. What he left, his turds, they grovel in, not knowing it is just the purity of a very good person that he had and what he was refusing was this kinda domestic shit.

[@middayz]

Well what do you expect. Rimbaud never made back to his beloved Harar.

[@justinleclairabdullahqasim117]

The boy? His poetry was written as basically a child or teen age adolescent rogue nomad. He would always remain a man- child perfect jungle book character man-bear Mogley Kipling inspiration on mild stimulants and hashish.

[@charlesheck6812]

The stuffy comments aside, Dylan is a phenomenal lyricist and poet who has had an immeasurable impact on the culture internationally for 60 years. That you “don’t get him” means nothing. Dylan’s art, however, means a great deal to a great many people. Move on to another documentary if it incites your baser reflexes.

[@Noneatall246]

This is great. Great reporting & film

[@mollkatless]

Why do the Brits refer to him as: RAMbo, when the rest of the planet refers to him as RIMbo?

[@naryjones1279]

It's not necessary to read Rimbaud"d s poetry in a gloomy voice - He was a light person, Libra

[@Goatchild90]

You know it ♎♎♎

[@middayz]

there was nothing gloomy about the recitation. It was just clear-voiced & sensitive & touching. Effective? Inspiring!

[@FACEGRINDproductions]

Triple Libra, at that! I was stoked to find out that and also that I was Libra dominant after reading him. Always wondered if that was a factor that drew me to him

[@Santyago1966]

A gloomy tone in poetry always gives a sense of importance of what you read haha

[@danielalexandermclachlanga3781]

@@FACEGRINDproductions Arthur was Libra sun and Libra Moon ..... and Scorpio Ascendant ....

[@marcobagut]

He was high at the end of the documentary...

[@maync1]

Non-stop smoker from another age.

[@robroudil]

Thank you for this very sensitive film about my beloved "King Arthur". At this moment of my life (75) when poetry is, as always has been, more and more present. Rimbaud' Bateau Ivre, is for me like an almost everyday prayer. So, these days i've watched some movies, documentaries about Rimbaud' last years, yours is one of the most moving ' have seen. Most french are so pretentious and self confident on their knowings and culture that it made lot of their films dishonest and so far from Rimbaud. Rimbaud did not flee, he escaped those people ! "Tu as bien fait de partir Arthur Rimbaud" is a poem by René Char, that you should read, if you read these lines. Thank You. Robert

[@aminoto-3]

Another reason not to join the French Foreign Legion… 6:29.. look at the state of the fuckin hot pants they make you wear. EDIT.. £1800/month in 1994… I’d put up with the hot pants..

[@fussypeg8561]

Rimbaud has not gotten what he wanted: to unravel the deepest mystery of life...... to come by it, he seems to have believed you should always drive yourself beyond your limits. He certainly did this physically and so destroyed his chances. Must have been fooled by his own illusion.

[@mikehuffman5460]

This is very good.

[@marclayne9261]

My father fought with the, Legion, Indochina....1950---53....

[@patrickboyle3106]

This is an unheralded gem. Wow!

[@PAULLONDEN]

Now that was interesting !

[@fathole7576]

Dam he finnneee

[@LayeDiaw]

Fat hole lol Fat hole. Which hole are you referring to? Arthur Rimbaud was my favorite poet growing up.

[@Yeah--mn9qk]

LayeDiaw was arthur gay or bi?

[@fatnsassy99]

@@Yeah--mn9qk he's noted to have a violent relationship with another poet. He was shot by said poet but died of cancer when he was 37

[@golpeshiharan2215]

@@Yeah--mn9qk bi

[@porkyparry1]

Verlaine for me, but he had the misfortune of being not photogenic

[@HalaFoundation]

No Rimbaud. Lots of qat.

[@juicylucy5797]

"Coffee, Frankincense and Khat" Take me to to Djibouti!

[@christohr9957]

The man who inspired Bob Dylan (and Jim Morrison).

[@christohr9957]

After reading/hearing Rimbaud, I can see the similarities in Morrison, Dylan, not so much ... guess it’s all perception.

[@middayz]

Bod Dylan did read Rimbaud... through Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg, etc. Rimbaud became popular in America in the 60s.

[@juicylucy5797]

@@timetheory84 Dylan's love of surreal juxtapositions is classic Rimbaud, his entire lyrical output draws heavily on Rimbaud. Morrison's whole delivery is a carbon copy of Kerouac on the Steve Allan show.

[@juicylucy5797]

@@timetheory84 "The motorcycle black Madonna Two-wheeled gypsy queenAnd her silver-studded phantom cause The gray flannel dwarf to scream" Woody Guthrie never came up with lyrics like that, he sang songs about Oakies.

[@petercrossley2956]

Yes, but what part of this egocentric travelogue deals with that connection ?

[@bmf1949]

Frankly this isn’t a documentary about Rimbaud (or even Dylan) Disappointing.

[@chrisrees7054]

I'm pretty sure he inspired Patti Smith as well.

[@pamzavada5269]

Yes he did.

[@yobhsiFehT]

If anyone can tell me the music playing around 17:00, I will be very grateful! 😳😍

[@yobhsiFehT]

I take it back! The whole soundtrack, please! lol

[@beavisbonce]

Darude sandstorm

[@nicholasreid1836]

Nicholl is a very good writer and his book about Rimbaud, "Somebody Else" is a good book, but this is a dreadful "documentary", not only ill-informed about Africa but making far too many bows to pop culture idiots who have probably not read a thing Rimbaud wrote (and certainly not in the original French).

[@middayz]

Como'n reid, This isn't a pop film. & he just mention Bob Dylan. How many bows is that?

[@nicholasreid1836]

@@middayz Rimbaud is basically one of those literary figures whom a mass of people claim to admire without actually having read him. It's the "legend" of his life that they have swallowed - the bohemian runaway and teenage literary genius. Hence idiotic statements about "the man who inspired Bob Dylan" (as if that were anything to shout about). I stick by my view that most of the chatter one hears about him comes from people who have not read what he wrote - which is the only way to judge the worth of any literary figure (and how many have read him in French - only if you do that can you have the least grasp of how good or bad he was as a poet).. Poor Rimbaud! This documentary does not live up to Nicholl's book - wherein, despite his very good research, he certainly panders to pop culture by too many statements of the "he inspired Bob Dylan" variety. My own view is that Rimbaud grew up when he left the small, rather precious, literary circles (especially Verlaine) that were mentally strangling him... and he ceased to write poetry because he had nothing more to say, and realised that some much-admired poetry was often immature kidstuff. By the way, as John Ralston Saul notes in his book "Voltaire's Bastards", much so-called "rebellious" pop art (Morrison, Dylan etc.) is in no way rebellious at all, even if it sometimes references the likes of Rimbaud and other iconic "rebel" figures. Being expressed by high-slalaried pop figures, it has little to do with rebellion or noncomformity and is the height of conformism... and certainly has nothing to do with the ragged outcast that the teenage Rimbaud certainly was.

[@middayz]

@@nicholasreid1836 thank you, alright! Rimbaud is more than just a pop legend to me as well. But there's nothing wrong with Nicholl saying that he inspired Bob Dylan (which is true in a way, even though to me he inspired Jim Morrison more than any other pop American singer: It is very clear when you read Jim Morrison's The Lords & The New Creatures, etc.). If it wasn't for Rimbaud, a Dylan or Morrison never would have started singing in such a powerful way... Nonconformity & rebelling against injustice was part of their agenda alright. Do you know what I mean? & one thing for sure: Nicholl was reading Rimbaud in the French original, you can tell in the movie when he is holding a book in his hand & reads from the popular Gallimard edition.

[@nicholasreid1836]

@@middayz Thank you. I could go on with this banter, but I do not wish to be fractious. Being a "noncomformist" or "rebel" now means little more than striking a pose in public (often with great material reward). Young Rimbaud, with the intelligence of an adult but [when he wrote his poetry] the sensibility of an adolescent, went through, and grew out of, the "rebel" stage - essentially a sulky teenage thing - and of course he received no material reward as he lived before the age of publicised "celebrity". I really will leave it at that, but I'm sure you will have more to say. Nicholl's book is a very good one, despite his pandering to pop culture in places.Cheers.

[@parrmik]

5% rimbaud , 95% the woes of the horn of africa.

[@FlLou]

Is it just me or did anyone else want to reach through the screen and hit the "historian/travel writer" in the head. How gloomy, pessimistic and bored he seemed about the whole thing. It wasn't so much about Rimbaud but the uninspired ramblings of Nicholl and about how he hated the assignment he was given by Channel 4.

[@darknes5inside]

Its just you...

[@petercrossley2956]

No it isn't just you. As a Rimbaud scholar this piece of point;ess ego-driven travelogue is more boring than dirt.

[@velocitygirl8551]

Loved your opening!! Wonderful documentary!!

[@drewaldrich711]

why do we have to suffer through the film maker's travels? boring and off subject

[@AntiqueCarsRCool]

Very exciting!!!

[@cromlechvortex1089]

Who's Bob Dylan except another plunderer of ideas ? Does it have an original style like for example David Bowie or Jim Morrison ?

[@Goatchild90]

lol at David Bowie not being a plunderer of ideas

[@middayz]

Who cares? Every artist is an inspired plunderer of beauty. Name me who hasn't done it? It's called Tradition!

[@cromlechvortex1089]

​@@middayz Except that he's not an artist ... but just a businessman. His music is lousy. His nasal songs are unbearable ... Maybe the texts are interesting (and again ... it's very politicized ... with a socialist ideology which serves to divide the American people ..) To say that he is inspired by Arthur Rimbaud is a joke! I am French and I studied Arthur Rimbaud ... He was a Parnassian poet ... who had no political "mission" ...

[@middayz]

@@cromlechvortex1089 His latest work it's not that inspiring to me personally. & his voice with that twang or drawl speech is quite annoying, I must admit. His socialist ideology? Com'on. Let's be honest: Didn't Rimbaud has one? I think so. He wouldn't have care a bit about joining France's National Front or voting for Trump here in the US...

[@yuriandropov2114]

Again... bullshit. What proof does this guy have that Rimbaud every set foot in any of these places where he supposedly lived?

[@user-io2xb5ur4t]

Dear useless fuck. If you read "Arthur Rimbaud complete works" translated by paul schmidt you'll notice that rimb kept in touch with his family by messages throughout his years on the road. And that's how They rely on this track of order of his journey.

[@gregphilipmusic]

Very well done Chris! Thanks!

[@gregphilipmusic]

Sorry, Charles 😅

[@suejowell]

arrogant pons..blunders about in Africa travelling first class and name dropping....sorrrry....x Arthur

[@middayz]

Was he trying to travel first class?...It didn't look like it from watching the film, com'on. Sorry Arthur...x Sue