A Complete Unknown

I grew up in an household that loved Bob Dylan and Joan Baez (though not equally from parent to parent!), and I think it really only instilled in me a sense of contrariness. The more my dad banged on about how great Dylan and his lyrics were, the more that fell of deaf childish ears. Sitting down now I was worried I'd revert to my self of fifty-odd years ago, but thanks to a pretty convincing effort from Timothée Chalamet I actually found my feet moving - and not towards the door! It doesn't do him any harm that he resembles the man, and he manages to convey something of the spirit of this poet who, upon hearing that Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) is on his last legs in hospital, travels to New York to track him down. He finds Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) at the bedside of a sick man, plays him a song he's written about his hero and now thanks to some patronage from Seeger he starts to get gigs, meets "Sylvie" (Elle Fanning) then the already successful Baez (Monica Barbara) before taking the world - and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) by storm. It's a classy biopic that, though chronological, isn't just a straight history of the man. It shows his character, warts and all, as he comes to terms with his success and some of the temptations and fickleness that goes along with it. Many critics say Dylan is the worst singer of his own songs and Chalamet keeps up that tradition offering some authentic sounding, but different enough, interpretations of some of the man's most recognisable songs. Barbaro also turns in well as Baez, though I found her voice just a little too operatic and not quite as effective. The production is clearly high-end with loads of attention to the detail, but essentially this is really a chance for Chalamet to show he is more than just a (very) skinny boy with floppy hair. Purists of the artiste may hate it, but I think it quite powerfully characterises this group of free thinking individuals in a 1960s America dealing with a presidential assassination, communist threats and a general sense of paranoia amongst a public that was clearly crying out for something to hope for. Dylan et al delivered some of that, and this comes across well.

Tribute biographies have become an increasingly popular film genre in recent years, though, truthfully, they’re not all of the same caliber. Content and authenticity play significant roles in their overall quality, but, as experience has shown, these traits can vary widely, depending on the picture. As for writer-director James Mangold’s homage to musician-folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet), the film presents viewers with a mixed bag on these fronts. While this effort seems to mostly get things right in matters of authenticity, it comes up somewhat short on content, despite its protracted 2:21:00 runtime, what should amount to sufficient duration to nail down the most crucial cinematic particulars. “A Complete Unknown” follows Dylan from his arrival in New York in 1961, where he quickly became the latest sensation on the Greenwich Village folk music scene, through his rise to stardom as an emerging music industry icon and culminating in his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where he traded in his acoustic guitar for an electric model, a switch met with mixed reactions but that launched him in innovative new directions musically. Along the way, viewers are let in on passing scenes from his personal life, such as his friendships with fellow musicians Pete Seeger (Oscar nominee Edward Norton), Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) and Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), as well as his passionate but stormy romances with Sylvie Russo (a pseudonym for real life love interest Suze Rotolo) (National Board of Review Award winner Elle Fanning) and fellow folk singer Joan Baez (Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro). But, regrettably, much of the narrative is little more than a loosely strung together collection of sequences designed to showcase an array of Dylan’s greatest hits from the early days of his career, as well as those of his peers. While the songs are indeed capably performed by the actors themselves, after a while though, the film feels more like an anthology of music videos than an insightful biography. In fact, Dylan’s character comes across as largely enigmatic and inscrutable, a take on his persona alleged to be true to form but that doesn’t offer a great deal of enlightenment into his nature – that is, other than often making him look like a first-class jerk (the noble content of his social activism compositions notwithstanding). Consequently, this candid but somewhat unflattering approach almost makes one wonder whether a protagonist like Dylan is innately worthy of such an homage, even if the finished product is on point (and ironically lends credence to the meaning of the film’s title, whether intentional or not). All things considered, on balance, the filmmaker’s effort here is passable as a capably made tribute bio, with generally fine performances (especially Fanning, who genuinely should have earned supporting actress award kudos over her somewhat overrated co-star), commendable period piece production values and a fine soundtrack (if one is an ardent Dylan fan, that is, something I honestly can’t claim to be). But is this release really worthy of all the awards season attention it has garnered? That seems like something of a stretch to me, but, given the lackluster nature of the crop of 2024 awards season candidates, the pickings have admittedly been somewhat slim. Devotees of the protagonist are virtually certain to come away from this offering suitably impressed, though the rest of us are more likely to heave a modest shoulder shrug and move on to the next movie.