Beating the standard childhood-to-adulthood format of biopics, ‘A Complete Unknown’ delivers a scintillating retelling of the most prolific period in the life of Bob Dylan.
The only songwriter to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature—which he did not turn up to receive—Dylan is a carefully curated enigma. Like the film’s title, director James Mangold intelligently focuses on the near-magical songs of his subject, trimming out the emphasis on the personal, keeping him somewhat ‘unknown’ despite the film’s 2-hour-plus runtime, and the outcome is a fantastic film.
From humble beginnings to folk music stardom
The film opens with a 20-year-old Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) visiting an ailing Woody Guthrie, the folk singer and inspiration behind this young singer-songwriter’s work, while his friend Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), also a legendary folk singer, sits by his bedside.
Together, they get a taste of the early signs of Dylan’s genius when he sings a song for Guthrie and finds a place in their hearts. We are then transported to the electrifying music scene of the sixties in Greenwich Village, New York, where live music spots like the historic Gaslight Cafe play home to the unmissable brilliance of folk singers and musicians. Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) is already ruling here with her heartwarming folk songs, while Dylan hesitantly begins to play his edgy songs with his grainy, uneven-toned voice.
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The film captures his journey from being a covers singer for classic folk that couldn’t sell records to his reluctant explosion onto the American music scene with strikingly original, thought-provoking songs.
Fame, love and the walls Dylan built
Weaving in his intimate but exasperating relationships with artist Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), based on his early relationship with Suze Rotolo, and with fellow musical traveller Joan Baez, the story underlines Dylan’s conscious building of an intangible yet consistent wall between the inevitable invasion of global celebrity and his persona.
The black sunglasses at all times of day and night, a Triumph motorbike, the slouchy posture, and habitual aloofness were deliberately built to keep his most authentic side to himself alone.
The film also makes no bones about his inability to sustain long-term relationships. Interludes of his relationships beyond women and managers are also integral to his discovery of his own abilities as an artist, like the playful mutual admiration society that he has with Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook).
Capturing the evolution of a musical rebel
Mangold’s boldest move in this film is to let the Dylan songs play out in their entirety, something that even musicals tend to trim to keep a story moving. Here, the impact is immediate, as is the authentic recreation of the effect Dylan’s music has on audiences.
A scene at the Newport Folk Music Festival, where many historical performances were made in the sixties, has Dylan fervently belting out ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’, with the audience joining in the chorus, relating to the words in the song while falling in love with the singer.
When the Cuban Missile Crisis plays out, Dylan is performing ‘Masters of War’ in a club even as Baez, like most of New York, is rushing back home. He lets the audience experience the music of the film to translate the resonance and relevance it had to a complex period in American history.
Mangold and Jay Cocks have adapted the script from Elijah Wald’s 2015 book, ‘Dylan Goes Electric,’ to build up to a climax that hinges on Dylan’s unapologetic switch to rock and blues-inspired electric guitars.
What works and what doesn’t
Timothée Chalamet is incredible, with insouciant charm, an unaffected sneer, and an ability to sing, strum, and play the harmonica like a natural.
He gets Dylan’s mannerisms and aloofness bang on, along with his unfiltered performances onstage. Elle Fanning and Edward Norton have won acclaim and awards for their roles, particularly Norton as Seeger, whose benevolent smile is excellent.
But it is Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez—the secret sauce in this recipe—who brings Baez to life with near perfection. While the awards circuit might have missed out on recognising her efforts, Baez fans and music lovers will definitely remember her act as equally strong and perfectly complementary to Chalamet’s performance.
Besides the film’s music, the accurate and nostalgia-inducing recreation of specific moments in American history through art and cinematography also stands out. Greenwich Village, the pulsating heart of poetry and freewheeling creativity, is almost like a character in Dylan’s early years.
Verdict
‘A Complete Unknown’ is an on-point and aesthetic recreation of a pivotal moment in Dylan’s life. Mangold pays tribute to his ingenuity and his conscious choice to put music above all else.
As a key character in the film advises him, he is ambitious yet uncomfortable with his ambition. Since it is adapted from a book, it does a fair job of everything except offering a glimpse into Dylan’s human and personal side. Hints at his changed name and Jewish origin are offered but never developed.
It is a fan’s take on an artist whose range is tough to describe in words, so it is not a personal portrait of the man. That said, this is a film all about the evergreen effect of music. For the music alone—and for a scintillating Chalamet—it is highly recommended.
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, and Scoot McNairy
Director: James Mangold
Rating: 4/5
(‘A Complete Unknown’ is currently running in theatres)
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