Bob Dylan’s biography, person and music are a source of inspiration for interesting films. There have already been quite a few, from one of the best music documentaries ever made to experimental biographies and musical films. ‘A Complete Unknown‘ (2024), directed by James Mangold, adds to a series of biographies of famous musicians that have come out on the screens in recent years and to a trend that is characterized by the fact that producers and filmmakers do not hesitate to approach the lives and music of singers who are still alive and active. Almost all of these films have divided the opinions of cinema lovers and fans of the respective musicians. This will undoubtedly be the case with ‘A Complete Unknown‘. I really liked the musical part and the way the first few years of Dylan’s career are approached, the years before the change of direction that would lead him to artistic independence. Regarding the cinematic performance, there are many things that I liked and a few that I liked less. I left the movie happy, especially because of the music, but for me it’s not the best film about Dylan I’ve seen.
‘A Complete Unknown‘ is a formidable experience for lovers of folk and pop music, and especially for those of my age (yes, 70+) for whom Bob Dylan was a symbol of freedom but also of the protest of a generation that we felt was ours even on the other side of the Iron Curtain. I recognized most of the songs from the first chords and followed the journey of the 19-year-old who, in January 1961, arrived ‘completely unknown’ in New York, began his career under the influence of Woodie Guthrie and with the support of Joan Baez, became a star of folk and protest music and continued to search for new ways of expression. This part constitutes an very good musical docu-drama. The atmosphere of clubs and music festivals is excellently reconstructed. The most emotional moments are those based on music: Bob Dylan meeting his idol, Woodie Guthrie, and singing to him in the hospital where he was interned stricken with illness; Dylan and Baez meeting and recognizing each other’s talent; the studio recordings; the jazz festivals including the controversial moment at Newport that marked Dylan’s break from ‘pure’ acoustic folk music. With the exception of a few original sequences inserted and of the end credits, all of Dylan and Baez’s music is sung by Timothée Chalamet (who spent years preparing for this role) and Monica Barbaro. I don’t know who deserves the credit for the actors’ vocal coaching, but all due respect for their efforts and achievement.
I would have loved to say that the other biographical aspects are equally well addressed, but that’s not quite the case. Bob Dylan is still a mystery to this day when it comes to his personal life. Paradoxically, although he is under the spotlight and is constantly hunted by admirers and journalists for over six decades, he has managed to hide many of the details of his personal life and the motivations of his ‘difficult’ character. I don’t think director James Mangold and actor Timothée Chalamet had or intended to handle the audience a key to the character. From the film we are left with the feeling of Dylan’s obsession with music, of the permanent search for artistic paths – something natural at the beginning, but uninterrupted even after his consecration -, of an immeasurable ambition and an awareness of self-worth and of the refusal of beaten paths and imposed authorities. In the end, the result is still an icon, that of the enigmatic Dylan with sunglasses day and night, in a vain attempt to escape sensational notoriety and to protect his private and artistic space. The way he manages his relationships with the two women in his life during this period – Joan Baez and the artist Sylvie Russo (a fictional character based on a real relationship) – is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the script. Monica Barbaro failed to make me forget Joan Baez to the same extent that Timothée Chalamet became Dylan for me on screen. The connection between them seems passionless and thus, even the breakup has no drama. I want to mention another remarkable acting creation – that of Edward Norton in the role of folk musician Pete Seeger, one of Dylan’s mentors at the beginning of his career.
The first thing I did when I got home after the film was to look for the original recordings and listen to them again for the hundredth or thousandth time. However, I am convinced that other, younger viewers, who will hear them for the first time, will do the same. This would be the greatest success of ‘A Complete Unknown‘.