Idiosyncratic director Todd Haynes is a clear fan of the music biopic: His oeuvre includes “biographical”—and we use that term loosely here—films that explore Karen Carpenter’s anorexia and David Bowie’s glam-rock period. But this isn’t “Ray” territory, unless you count Barbie-doll actors (“Superstar”) and gay alien visitors (“Velvet Goldmine”) as mainstream.

His latest movie, “I’m Not There,” which plays at the New York Film Festival this week and gets a wide release in November, trains its eye on Bob Dylan. The results are vintage Haynes: peculiar, unconventional, lyrical.

Six actors, including Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, Cate Blanchett and an 11-year-old African-American boy, play different fictionalized aspects of Dylan’s personality. They run the gamut from folksy youth to angry electric-guitar wailer to evangelical Christian recluse.

But like Dylan’s multilayered, cryptic lyrics, the movie, with its crisscrossing narratives, is a poetic treatment rather than a strict biography. Even the film’s title is enigmatic for all but the superfan: “I’m Not There” is the name of an unreleased Dylan song.

After a press screening at the festival, Village Voice critic and selection committee member J. Hoberman asked Haynes a few pointed questions about his movie. But for some Dylan-esque guidance and insight into Haynes’ artistic take on the man, we went back to the music. Maybe some of Dylan’s lyrics could clarify.

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

When Haynes made “Superstar” and “Velvet Goldmine,” he had trouble securing the rights to use music by the Carpenters and David Bowie. In fact, “Superstar,” Haynes’ first film, was so plagued by legal face-offs with the Carpenter estate that it has never been released theatrically.

This time around, producer Christine Vachon didn’t allow Haynes to start writing until they had access to the original materials they needed. According to Haynes, “don’t do anything rash” was the advice that Vachon, his longtime collaborator, gave him. Fortunately, after meeting with Dylan’s filmmaker son Jesse and longtime manager Jeff Rosen, the creative team sent Dylan a one-page synopsis of the project, and Haynes received music and life rights, which he says gave him “a huge amount of creative space to explore.”

What does Dylan think of the finished project? Haynes told the audience that he sent the singer a DVD screener, but the reclusive artist hasn’t commented yet.

Just Like a Woman

While researching Dylan’s life and performances, Haynes noticed that the artist’s body language had an almost androgynous quality—especially after seeing his legendary performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. In a bold move, Haynes decided to cast Cate Blanchett, whom he knew could channel that androgyny. Haynes sent Blanchett a copy of the tour documentary “Eat the Document” for her to study, and given Blanchett’s chameleon-like ability—she won an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator”—Haynes knew she was up to the task. “She’s a very physical actor,” Haynes said. “She has to find the equivalent body parts in a character.”

Haynes needed Blanchett to convey the freakish dandy Dylan became during that era. “The unique weirdness of Dylan at that time has been canonized now,” Haynes explained. “But the way he would play the piano and the way he spoke was almost unmanly and unmacho. It wasn’t evident at any other time and disappeared after his motorcycle crash in ’66.”

Mr. Tambourine Man

Fans of Dylan’s discography will likely rejoice when they hear the film's soundtrack. Capitalizing on the expansive rights granted by Dylan, Haynes was able to use any number of original recordings, as well as commission new covers. Musicians like Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James make cameos in the film, while Antony and the Johnsons, Stephen Malkmus, Yo La Tengo, Calexico, and Iggy and the Stooges reinterpret Dylan’s classic songs on the soundtrack.