“A Complete Unknown” The newest biopic from director James Mangold [Girl, Interrupted (1999) Ford vs. Ferrari (2019)] starring Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning follows American folk rock legend Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman) in the early years of his career. The movie starts with Dylan’s arrival in New York City in search of his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). It follows the next five years as he performs at the Newport folk festival, engages in a tumultuous relationship with Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), and becomes a multinational idol before turning his back on traditional folk and “going electric.”
The story is less interested in the day-to-day life of Dylan, instead exploring the people around him and how they influence each other. Characters like antifascist icon Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Activist songbird Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), and country music star Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook). They each have their own idea of what folk is and how Dylan should continue his career. We rarely ever see inside the head of Bob Dylan because no one ever did. All the audience can do is put themselves in the ‘60s and just experience the events as they unfold free of any introspection. Some could see this as a negative aspect of the movie, but I believe it is an intentional creative choice to create a mystery around Bob Dylan and pull you into the intrigue.
Camera work is adequate and accomplishes what it needs to for a movie of this nature. No shots specifically stick out and the editing is disorienting at points. Some sequences seem to have been blocked without storyboard as the composition is nonsensical and nonlinear. The colors of midcentury NYC nightlife are more muted than I would have liked but that is a symptom of the “realistic” filmmaking used in biopics.
Timothée Chalamet transforms into Bob Dylan, adopting his iconic singing voice and speaking mannerisms. A contradictory performance that combines bombastic acting decisions and subtly written dialogue to create an interesting interpretation of the “character.” The standout to me however is Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash. He is absolutely magnetic on screen and steals the show completely. Another notable performance is Edward Norton as he adopts a sort of Mr. Rogers persona for his Pete Seeger that audiences seemed to really resonate with.
The music is the main focus of this film making up a significant portion if the screen time and being used to tell not only the period of Dylan’s career but also the theme of the particular section of the movie, i.e “The times they are a changin” being used to open a section of scenes illustrating Dylan’s rise to fame after the release of “Freewheeling.” There is a lack of many iconic late career Bob Dylan songs but that is because of the limited scope of the biopic being over only five years. A lack of a traditional score may put people off to the experience of the film, however, the experience is designed around this absence and you would never notice it.
Overall, as an avid Bob Dylan fan I greatly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who loves classic music or Timothée Chalamet.
