Creating a film about the life of legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan is a long stretch. With an enigmatic personality and a rich history to play with, whether you are covering his foundational period in the 1980s or later days, each decade of Dylan is its own unique story.
It’s only natural for James Mangold and company to focus on the early heydays of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown”, specifically from 1961 to 1965, culminating in his controversial electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival. This period is clean-cut Dylan for the viewers who weren’t familiar with the singer, as we get to follow his roots, wandering around New York City with only his bag and guitar, being discovered by Pete Seeger, landing his first record deal, falling and fooling in love with Sylvie Russo (based on Suze Rotolo) and Joan Baez.
Even with such a mystifying presence, “A Complete Unknown’s” job is to make Dylan accessible to everyone. The Bob Dylan we see here is not the larger-than-life man we always knew, but a man searching for his own creative identity, if it meant breaking away from a mold that tried to define him.
Timothée Chalamet presented this demystification quite well in his performance. Chalamet doesn’t look or sound exactly like Dylan but you can tell he’s put off a lot of work into this role. The most impressive in this film are Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro, playing the two female lovers of Chalamet’s Dylan. Both actresses have an electric presence in their limited screentime, strengthening “A Complete Unknown” into more than just a Bob Dylan biopic.
“A Complete Unknown” covered a short time in Bob Dylan’s long-spanning career, yet it felt longer than it should be. But even with its excesses, you can’t resist the energy of its songs (performed live by the actors). A handful of Dylan's music was performed in its entirety for the film. Seeing the film just for this is already worth the price of admission. A must-watch.
"A Complete Unknown" is now showing in New Zealand cinemas.
Featured photos courtesy of 20th Century Studios.
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