A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Scoot McNairy, Eriko Hatsune, Will Harrison, P J Byrne, Charlie Tahan, Michael Chernus, David Alan Basche, Kayli Carter, Eli Brown.

Bob Dylan is, arguably, the most influential musician of the second half of the twentieth century, and his seminal 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. This compelling biopic covers the early period of Dylan’s career, from his arrival in New York in 1961, as a nineteen-year-old, through to his controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 when he played electric guitar accompanied by a backing band for the first time, which caused a furore amongst the traditional folk set.
Timothee Chalamet (Wonka, etc) completely inhabits the enigmatic character of Dylan, and he even captures his distinctive nasally vocal style with many of his songs. From the first moment we see Chalamet, dressed much like the image from the cover of his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, we accept him as Dylan. This is a much more coherent and engaging and insightful look at Dylan than Todd Haynes 2007 film I’m Not There in which a handful of different actors tried to depict Dylan’s enigmatic nature and depict different aspects of his life and career. The film takes its title from the lyric of his 1965 single Like A Rolling Stone, a six-minute epic which changed the music game forever.
But this is not exactly a flattering portrait as director James Mangold (Ford V Ferrari, the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line, etc) and Jay Cocks (a former critic with Rolling Stone magazine, who has written films such as Gangs Of New York, etc) capture his ego, his tempestuous relationships, and his uncomfortable relationship with fame and success. Mangold and Cocks have drawn on Elijah Ward’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric to shape the screenplay. Dylan himself apparently provided Mangold with notes to help shape the script.
The film opens with the young Dylan arriving in New York’s Greenwich Village, hoping to meet his idol Woody Guthrie. Upon learning that Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy) is ill and is hospitalised in an institution in New Jersey, Dylan visits him. There he also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), one of the leading figures of the folk music scene and an activist of social and environmental causes. Dylan performs a song he wrote for Guthrie, which impresses the two men. Seeger invites Dylan back to his place to meet his family and slowly introduces him to the folk music scene in New York.
Dylan meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), who is a bit of an activist herself, and the pair begin a relationship. Dylan also finds himself attracted to fellow folk singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro, from Top Gun: Maverick, etc), but their relationship is more volatile. Dylan’s own songs like Blowin’ In The Wind strike a chord with an America that is undergoing radical social change with the civil rights movement and disenchantment with the unpopular war in Vietnam and he becomes something of a reluctant champion of the time. But he is uncomfortable with the pressures of fame and success and seems uneasy with the public adulation and recognition.
Mangold’s direction is typically muscular with attention to detail. The film’s soundtrack is laden with plenty of music from the era, with several of Dylan’s iconic songs performed by Chalamet himself. That Chalamet does his own vocals and guitar playing adds to the authenticity of the film. The period detail is excellent, and regular cinematographer Phedon Papamichael immerses us in the aesthetic of New York in the early 60s and the smoke-filled folk music clubs.
The performances are excellent. Chalamet in particular highlights the contradictions and contrary nature of Dylan’s character and delivers his most complete and impressive performance to date. Norton is superb as Seeger, suffusing his character with an essential air of decency and integrity, and he conveys his disappointment at Dylan’s flaunting of convention on the Newport Folk Festival. Boyd Holbrook brings energy to his role as country superstar Johnny Cash, with whom Dylan enjoyed a long epistolatory relationship of mutual praise. Holbrook effectively captures Cash’s signature shotgun guitar style. Barbaro is very good as the strong-willed Baez, and she brings a smouldering quality to the role. Dan Fogler is good as legendary folk music producer Al Grossman. There’s a sadness to McNairy’s almost wordless performance as the afflicted Guthrie.
We’ve had a number of music biopics in recent years (Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Elvis, Better Man, etc), but A Complete Unknown is one of the best entries in this subgenre. The fact that it concentrates on one pivotal period in the artist’s life rather than following their entire life story gives the film a stronger focus. Even if, like me, you are not particularly a fan of Dylan or his music, A Complete Unknown is an absorbing biopic that attempts to capture the essence of the singer’s prickly, elusive and reclusive personality. The film runs for 141 minutes but I was so absorbed in the story unfolding I was not conscious of the time.
★★★★☆