Masked and Anonymous

Edmund: The Heir Apparent

The streets of this America (this America?) are lined with filth, the buildings dilapidated and no,
not in that elegant of the Matrix with the dilapidated mansions and sort of Armani chic clothes
falling apart at the seams, but no, this is dilapidated in a truly gross and yes, you can imagine
cockroaches everywhere way, because as we all know from school, only the cockroaches will
survive the nuclear holocaust – end of the world – Armageddon.

Masked & Anonymous, starring Bob Dylan as “Jack Fate” and a whole host of other characters with
so many cameos that I eventually lost count, though to note a few: Bruce Dern, Giovanni Ribisi,
Luke Wilson, Val Kilmer (as an animal rights activist and farmer), Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange,
John Goodman, Christian Slater, Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz and on and on… is one film worth
seeing.

'Edmund,' cleverly portrayed by Mickey Rourke, is the heir apparent of a dying dictator. Rourke's
performance delivers the political greed, lust for power and inward conceit within the film with brutal
clarity. It is Edmund who introduces the violent and manipulative layer of the foundation beneathe
the storyline as his prophecy begins to become fulfilled. Rourke's self-absorbed future czar proclaims
his regime predicts all memory will be wiped out, where a real violence will replace manufactured
violence, where "eagles will scream" and where "great nations will fight large wars" soon, as the
brand new President Edmund preaches and predicts the bleak fate the future has in store. Mickey
Rourke's contribution to Masked and Anonymous is among the very few comprehensive situations
taking place. In the midst of utter chaos and mass confusion, the "heir apparentí" seems to be one of
the only apparent aspects of the film.

Expect the worst and you’ll get it.
All of us are trying to kill time … time ends up killing us.
(Which he thinks as a young girl offers an absolutely gorgeous rendition of “The Times They are a
Changin’” in perfect pitch even though she cannot be more than eight or nine years old.)
Hospitals are shrines to the diseases they create.
A crack in the mud at the bottom of a dry sanded lake is more beautiful than a human being.

Excerpt from Bob's Fate | Bob Dylan & Masked & Anonymous written by Sadi Ranson-Polizzott.
Special thanks to Sadi for allowing us to post .