"A Complete Unknown" Stirs The Soul and Embodies The Music of Bob Dylan
- SPW
- Dec 29, 2024
- 6 min read
Director: James Mangold
Writers: James Mangold, Jay Cocks (film); Elijah Wald (book)
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Joe Tippett, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Eriko Hatsune
Studios: Searchlight Pictures, Range Media Partners, Veritas Entertainment, The Picture Company
Instead of the archetypical origin story of most biopics, James Mangold begins discovery of A Complete Unknown during Bob Dylan's formative years. The movie takes place between leaving Minnesota as Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1961 and just entering the Pantheon of music as Bob Dylan during the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
That signature moment is known to all Dylan fans as when he first dropped an acoustic for the rhythmic vibes of a Fender Stratocaster. That propeled him into super stardom. The moment paved the way for Dylan, clad in his bomber jacket and campy fisherman's cap, to walk into Manhattan's Greenwich Village and take the music world by storm. It helped compose his destiny as America's storyteller during the Vietnam War and beyond.
Somehow, four short years set a course for a lifetime to help us all learn about one of this nation's brightest gems in musical history.
The Undeniable Talent of Chalamet
Did you like the singing? That was all Timothee Chalamet. Every note was absent lip-synch; all authentic and all the actor who wanted to champion the aura of America's most prolific troubador.
"It was important for me to sing and play live," he said via a featurette interview on YouTube. "Because if I can actually do it, why should there be an element of artifice here? And I’m proud that we took that leap."
All 40 songs in the dynamic soundtrack, featuring some of Dylan's greatest hits, are all live Chalamet--the vocals, guitar, and harmonica. Some actors have won awards for stunning audiences in a musical biopic by lip-singing (e.g., Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up, Jennifer Lopez in Selena). Others have shined as a supernova in the Hollywood Hills taking on the challenge and singing those beloved lyrics (e.g., Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story, Renee Zellwegger in Judy, Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line).
It is not uncommon for actors to brandish a finely tuned voice, but when a director slots you for a role of a musical biopic, a decision must be made. Many actors, to their credit, want to take on recognizable tones and don't really measure up (see: Taron Egerton in Rocketman). Yet, there are those who embrace the vocal training and agnozing rehearsals to reach for the gold (see: Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born). But, Chalamet had to do that voice.
Bob Dylan's enigmatic and thunderous lyrics were as well-known as his aloof and uncommunicative personality. Then he opens his mouth on stage and somehow, it all comes together like a fine-dining recipe. The portrait of four years composed by Mangold is a symphonic achievement, all because of Timothee Chalamet's dedication to this career-defining role.
The Unparalled Storytelling of Mangold
No director and producer is immune to a Hollywood rotten egg. Zemeckis gave us Forrest Gump but also Pinocchio. Cameron allowed us all to set sail on Titanic but sunk with Pirahna II: The Spawning. The Coen Brothers welcomed us to No Country for Old Men, then introduced us to The Ladykillers. And Francis ford Coppola is Hollywood royalty with The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, yet became a court jester with Jack and Megalopolis.
It happens to everyone, including James Mangold. Despite his foibles of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Cop Land, he unveils a magnetic story in films such as Ford vs. Ferrari, Logan, The Greatest Showman, and Walk the Line. With A Complete Unknown, Mangold may have reached his zenith of storytelling powers.
Each scene is necessary. Each act strings together persona and passion. Each note is as melodious as dramatic. And each actor richly personifies the magnetic talent they were asked to portray.
Andy Talen as Jimmy Dean
Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo
Monica Barbero as Joan Baez
Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie
Edward Norton as Pete Seeger
What's arguably the most compelling aspect to this film is that most of the people who will watch a talented Millennial, Chalamet, portray a current Boomer, Dylan, is the generational mish-mash of understanding in the theaters. Most people who will rush to the movies to see this transformation only knows of Bob Dylan as a living legend of Woodstock music. They don't have the knowledge of Dylan's bravery against the countercultural American norm. Nor do they understand how he was pigeonholed as a nomandic busker with his acoustic and defied the masses and picked up an electric guitar.
That is the climax of this subsection of Dylan's spectacular life, which may lead some viewers to ask, "That's it?!" Given the near two hours of film before that happens, anyone who would have asked that question has it answered in a volumnious array of complex scenes and bewildering acting across what will certainly become a popular, target-rich movie come the Golden Globes, SAGs, and Oscars.
Add to the meticulous detail of storytelling, these "youngsters" actually learn the true names of the folk music movement like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the adored Joan Baez. Forget capturing a few songs on a streaming app. Thanks to Mangold, a younger generation may come to understand why everyone else would stream their music in the first place.
That's the magic of the Mangold touch. People known on paper or music platform become alive for their contribution to a genre that has long passed them by. He did it once for Johnny and June Carter Cash. He does it again for Bob Dylan, and will certainly be mentioned--if not, honored--for his work in early 2025.
The Unquestionable Persona of Dylan
For someone who spoke little to the world around him, Bob Dylan became reknowned for speaking to the world that plagued him. He was more than a songwriter, he was a poet. Although no one in his home state enthralled others calling Dylan an "artist," "talent," or "genius," everyone eventually comes to the understanding of all three.
Calling the movie a "slow-burn" would be a dismal understatement. Mangold creates this story and these scenes with purpose, and all of it scorches how you think a musical biopic should be presented.
The movie is perfectly suited for Bob Dylan, someone who seemed to "come out of nowhere," although he was there the entire time. He watched people who wanted to be near him. He listened to music speak to him. And he struggled to understand the world around him. A Complete Unknown establishes the understanding of what is lacking about Bob Dylan--the man, his music, and a true mission to address what even we don't know submerging all of us.
Bob Dylan, as we learn in the movie's glimpse of his life, was hated for his talent and loathed for his lyrics. He channeled out the noise so many other of his ilk absorb and cause them to dwell along a different path. Instead, Dylan embraced what he believed was necessary, and despite the apparent anonymity in which he did it.
These scenes show the depth of his character and extent to which he refuses to allow any current sway him from what he believes should be done. If you have never listened to Dylan's music, the story about his meaning will certainly urge you to try it. No one's life is picturesque, as we learn through Mangold's telling of Dylan's story.
Yet, despite the imperfect people allowed in the songwriter's life and the unrelenting sacrifice he puts into his craft, A Complete Unknown launches us into an improbable story. Most never knew his story, and those who thought they did will learn new aspects about it. Despite who you are, by the time credits roll along Dylan's indisputable catalog, you will know more and be grateful for it.
The Halycon Days of Dylan may be "blowin' in the wind" from this film, but we are privileged to behold how he became "like a rolling stone" and the world was better off for it.
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