Summary

As usual, this is another magnificent movie by M Night S, both on the lower [bums on seats] level and the upper, deeper meaning level.

The lower level vehicle in this movie is an ancient Vietnamese/Chinese myth about sea creatures that used to work along with man in Olden Times, but which cooperation all but vanished as men "dealt in Tolkien style greed" and war.  So in the movie one of these creatures [a Nark] has "flown in" on a Tolkien style eagle and "interacts" with humans in a Unit Block called The Cove, trying to rekindle some of "that old time religion".

The deeper side of the movie has a person representing Martin Luther King who is termed The Vessel in Nark terminology as the person who is to be "inspired" by the visit of Story.  He is then to write a book which will in turn inspire "a young man from the Midwest", ie Bob Dylan, to "spread the good news all over the Land".

The Vessel [Night acting as Vick] is working on a book which he has titled The Cookbook, but it in fact signifies the greatest speech of the 20th Century generally known as "I Have a Dream".  The main connection to Dylan of course is Dylan sang "Only a Pawn in the Game" at the same Washington Rally in 1963 where King did his speech, and the song was dedicated to Medgar Evers, already assassinated by the CIA with King about to be assassinated by the CIA the following year [and blamed on yet another "Oswald style" Pawn in the Game].

And so it was that Dylan fed off all these abuses and told his stories in his songs "throughout the Land and the World" for all to hear IF they wanted.

So the setting was in early 1960s, as evidenced by TV style and typewriters instead of computers, and the Vietnam War "escalation" stage on every TV as if "wallpaper"of life, half real, half "Story" [the theme of Apocalypse Now].

In the end Story has a "happy ending" [a subtle side swipe by Night at his many critics] but of course nobody listened to what Dylan had to say, especially in God on Our Side.  In fact instead of the famous last lines "if God's on our side, He'll STOP the next war" we saw GW Bush use God to START the next war.