A COMPLETE UNKNOWN: A Great Biopic, Even If You’re Not a Bob Dylan Fan
I’ll be honest: As much as I love music, I’ve not been very aware of Bob Dylan‘s music over the years. Moreover, I have never had any real interest in biopics about musicians. There’s been the occasional standout, like 2019’s Rocketman. But by and large, the genre is a hard sell for me. So I went to see A Complete Unknown mainly for Timothée Chalamet and because it was directed by James Mangold. Could this possibly turn out to be another pleasant surprise?
The film opens in 1961, following a young Dylan as he navigates the music scene in New York City, forging crucial professional and personal relationships along the way. These include Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), and his girlfriend Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning). Though he’s undeniably talented, Dylan’s meteoric rise comes with much personal speculation. He won’t tell Sylvie anything about his past. He also writes songs that are increasingly socially conscious, which draws in Joan Baez both creatively and intimately. He butts heads with management, who want him to suppress his more political and original work in favor of covers (something he stubbornly refuses to do). By the end, once he’s debuted his newest sound — folk and rock combined into one unique style — at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and he faces a future as mystical as his persona.
What Works About A Complete Unknown?
Like many other filmgoers, I’ve been a fan of Timothée Chalamet since his breakout performance in Call Me by Your Name. However, I’ve never seen him like this. In fact, I haven’t seen a performance this intriguingly enigmatic since Barry Keoghan in Saltburn. Chalamet creates a portrayal of Bob Dylan that draws you in precisely because he is so mysterious, and yet you still walk away with a pretty clear sense of his personality. That’s the magic of good acting. It also owes credit to the screenplay by director James Mangold and Jay Cocks, based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald.
The script masterfully captures the triumph found in not conforming to everyone’s expectations of who you should be. I think that’s the key to this portrayal, as well as why Bob Dylan himself has maintained relevant in music history. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you want to do with your life, people are always going to try and push you in the directions they think you should go. The most rebellious thing you can do on a daily basis is actively choose who you’re going to be. For instance, as an LGBTQ+ person who also doesn’t perfectly fit into the restrictive frame of “traditional masculinity” (how I loathe that concept), it’s an idea that resonates deeply with me. Put simply, A Complete Unknown is a beautiful story about forging your individuality.
The other performers in the picture also embody their roles perfectly. I hadn’t heard of Joan Baez before seeing this, and yet Monica Barbaro‘s performance makes me feel like I know her. Edward Norton delivers his best work since Birdman as Pete Seeger. He’s soft-spoken, kind, and empathetic to young Bob Dylan’s passions and frustrations. But at a certain point, he starts to resent the extent of Bob’s fierce determination to be his own man. Kind of like a lot of the people who try to steer our ships early in life.
Bringing 1960s New York To Life
A Complete Unknown both looks and sounds dynamite, to boot. Sound mixer Tod A. Maitland, rerecording mixer Paul Massey, and supervising sound editor Don Sylvester vividly evoke the bustling sounds of New York, as well its sixties music scene, along with the rest of their sound team. That historical accuracy also extends to the costumes by Arianne Phillips (who has also worked on Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood and Nocturnal Animals), the production design by François Audouy, Regina Graves‘ set decoration, and the gorgeous cinematography by Phedon Papamichael (Oscar-nominated for his work on Nebraska and The Trial of the Chicago 7). This is an aesthetic masterpiece.
If there were one place where the movie falters, I think it’s a tad overlong. While I appreciate the fairly mellow, deliberate pace set by editors Andrew Buckland and Scott Morris, towards the last act, I couldn’t help but feel as if the movie should’ve revved up its engines more. We’re getting to the climax by now, and a more pedal-to-the-metal energy could’ve made it just that much more hard-hitting.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a Bob Dylan fan, or you’re as oblivious to the facts of his life and career as I was, I can’t recommend A Complete Unknown enough. In regards to James Mangold‘s history with biopics, this ranks with his career highs of Girl, Interrupted and Ford v. Ferrari. Come for Chalamet‘s magnetic performance, but stay for an equally powerful narrative about asserting your identity when the world wants you to conform. I don’t know if Chalamet will win the Best Actor Oscar for this, but I think it will stand the test of time as one of his top-shelf performances.
A Complete Unknown is currently playing in theaters.
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