“Joan Baez: I Am a Noise” is a documentary that explores the personal and public life of folk singer and activist Joan Baez. The film covers her 60-year performing career, her struggles with anxiety, depression, and loneliness, and her troubling repressed memories about her father. It also delves into her relationship with Bob Dylan and her involvement in civil rights and anti-war protests. The documentary includes interviews, archival material, and personal artifacts. The film concludes with Baez’s retirement and her reflection on the challenges she has overcome.
At the start of the film, a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez is used to emphasize how each individual has three lives: public, private and secret. The movie is suitable for this idea as it is centered around Joan Baez who rose to fame in 1959 at the age of 18 and made a total of 40 albums. She was eventually inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Through her drawings and letters, it is revealed that her outwardly public life was filled with numerous struggles and secrets. She was also in a relationship with Bob Dylan, who was the same as her in age and a mysterious genius. Baez recounts the time they were together being ‘intoxicating’ until a tour in the UK when his popularity increased and it became ‘horrible’. She then looks directly into the camera and says “Hi, Bob!” which provides an opportunity for the viewer to chuckle.
