‘A Complete Unknown’ poster.
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As folk musician Woody Guthrie laid on his deathbed, Bob Dylan handed his gifted harmonica back to Guthrie to signify his departure from the folk genre, as depicted by Timothée Chalamet and Scoot McNairy in the new biopic movie about Dylan, “A Complete Unknown.”
The movie, released on Christmas Day, shows Dylan’s fantastic rise to fame while maintaining the mystery of his life before and after he changed music forever.
While the movie does not hold to the factual timeline of Dylan’s life during the sixties, it portrays the intensity of Dylan’s fame, how his stardom never changed the persona he wanted, and his refusal to be boxed in by the folk genre.
The movie is based on the 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” by Elijah Wald. Directed by James Mangold, who is also credited, along with Jay Cocks, as the screenwriter, the film features Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Body Holbrook as Johnny Cash, and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo.
Dylan’s entrance into stardom begins with his arrival in New York City where he seeks out his folk music hero Guthrie on his deathbed and meets Seeger. The movie begins with Dylan’s story from 1961 into 1965, when he departed from his folk music persona.
“A Complete Unknown” captures Dylan’s popularity as a folk and bluegrass singer, showcasing his relationship with Johnny Cash and Joan Baez. The focus throughout the 121-minute film is on Dylan’s transition into fame and how it caused a personal change from folk music into rock music. From the songs such as “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” “Blowin’in the Wind,” “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” Dylan had re-invigorated bluegrass music in the eyes of Seeger.
The movie culminates with Dylan’s final appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when he introduces his infamous hit “Like A Rolling Stone,” playing an electric guitar and ushering in a new era of rock music.
While the movie is a biopic, viewers don’t come closer to knowing anything about the personal life of Dylan than what is already public, which causes the film to fall short in thorough character development. Although Chalamet portrays Dylan — the notably private man — with an uncanny resemblance, imitating Dylan’s unique vocals and carefree attitude, the roots of Dylan’s story are missing in the film.
Norton, who plays Dylan’s influential mentor, Pete Seeger, embodies the pressures that arose from both the political and social changes throughout the sixties. With scenes regarding the Vietnam War and civil rights activism, Seeger’s role is to emphasize the need for folk music to remain alive for the fans in the midst of the struggles during that time.
Barbaro, both a lover and musician that played alongside Dylan, aids the film through scenes that show Dylan’s song writing capability and compulsion. Holbrook hands off the baton to Chalamet throughout the film as he encourages Dylan’s music to roam free rather than be controlled by the persona forced upon him.
The most significant character that supports Chalamet is Fanning, the fictional character is based upon a version of Dylan’s girlfriend, who is pictured on his 1963 album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.” The girl “Sylvie Russo” shows the audience the inspiration in Dylan’s lyrical genius. Fanning does an excellent job as a bystander to Dylan’s success as he begins to develop his own persona.
The 40 songs played over the course of the movie and the excellently filmed production shows viewers Dylan’s music, the greatest part of Dylan’s story.
After watching “A Complete Unknown,” on Christmas Day, I think a rewatch is necessary in order to understand Dylan’s transition from “Blowin’in The Wind” to “Like A Rolling Stone.”
The first song introduced in the movie, “A Song For Woody,” shows how much Dylan idolized Guthrie as the folk musician, but in the end Dylan becomes a budding rockstar, and a great one at that.