Bob Dylan is one of the world’s most influential and revered songwriters, but so much remains mysterious about his life and career. In that rich, ambiguous space, director James Mangold has created a beautiful biographical depiction of the man born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941. 

A Complete Unknown is based on the book Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald. We find Bob Dylan, played superbly by Timothée Chalamet, at a pivotal time in his life as he matures from youth to adult. Arriving in New York just shy of his 20th birthday in 1961, Dylan seeks to meet his hero, an ailing Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). In so doing, he encounters Pete Seeger (lovingly portrayed by Edward Norton), who becomes a supporter and mentor.

As Dylan more deeply establishes himself in the New York music scene, we see him encounter influential figures in his life. These include love interests — most notably with Sylvie Russo (a composite based on real-life Suze Rotolo, played by Elle Fanning) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). He also finds music manager Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler), an ever-expanding cadre of musicians and producers, and some early fans. All this is set against the context of the day, including such seismic events as the Civil Rights Movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the assassinations of JFK and Malcolm X.

The level of detail in A Complete Unknown is exquisite. Mangold’s careful reconstruction of 1961 New York, and in particular, the folk scene in Greenwich Village, is comparable to that depicted in the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. The onstage and studio microphones are evocative of the day, from the steel- or mesh-encased ribbon mics to the almost comically spherical windscreen on the microphone at Newport.

Seizing on a common convention of 1960s social life, the sheer amount of smoking in A Complete Unknown rivals any episode of Mad Men — if not the entire Industrial Revolution. And Dylan fans will instantly recognize the costuming. As Dylan, Chalamet’s wardrobe is lifted directly from early album covers: his flat cap, jacket, sweaters, shirts, jeans, and unkempt fingernails. When Chalamet and Fanning’s characters walk and talk their way through lower Manhattan, the art direction of the scene is lifted directly from the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, minus the slushy snow.

In telling Dylan’s story, Mangold sticks to a tried-and-true narrative structure. Whereas many consider Dylan a folk hero — that is, a hero of folk music — A Complete Unknown presents Dylan as a folk hero in the archetypal sense. (Mangold’s previous hero narratives include 1999’s Girl, Interrupted, and the X-Men series films The Wolverine and Logan.) As the film opens, we find Dylan arriving in New York City alone, as if orphaned. He is embraced by mentors and those with loving intent, but faces demons — frequently hubris — which tend to lead him astray. Chalamet conveys Dylan’s mannerisms well, by taking quirks and expanding them into a portrait of rebelliously sulky Midwestern youth.

Ultimately, Dylan must turn against his elders and the music establishment to achieve his apotheosis. This tension is captured in the relationship between Dylan and unofficial guardian Seeger. The elder musician’s sincerity, warmth, and open-mindedness are all being pushed to their limits as he clocks Dylan’s direction and speed.

Vitally, Mangold — who also directed the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line — captures live music’s energy and grit. Chalamet’s work in 2023’s Wonka proved he is a triple threat — actor, singer, dancer. His singing and guitar-playing show a deep commitment to portraying Dylan authentically. Although the songwriting scenes can feel a bit forced — it’s tough to show the creative process on film — the recording sessions and concert sequences explode with the spontaneity, verve, and magic. (The electrifying — pun somewhat intended — performances in the film could spark a renaissance of Dylan appreciation similar to the roots-music awakening following O Brother Where Art Thou? in 2000.)

Mangold also uses music as a metaphor. The sung harmonies and onstage chemistry of Dylan and Baez alternately represent the passion or discord of their relationship at different points. Additionally, music captures the tumult of the turbulent ‘60s. In one critical scene, music becomes a symbol for the friction between the past and progress, as well as peace vs. war. Just as Dylan chafes at the categorization of music during several interactions with Seeger, Mangold refuses to let the film’s music be put in any box. 

Dylan scholars — whether credentialed academics or homegrown aficionados — may bristle at what they may see as inaccuracies, omissions, or inventions in A Complete Unknown. But as Chalamet told The Current’s Diane in the post-screening talk, “This is an interpretive movie. This is the character of Bob Dylan in this movie … It's not definitive. This is almost like a fable.”

The life of Bob Dylan, fact or fiction, provides a rich tapestry from which we can draw our own meanings. If there’s a lesson to A Complete Unknown, it may be as simple as seeing the flawed, but well-intended Dylan in ourselves.

‘A Complete Unknown’ opens in Minnesota on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and everywhere on Wednesday, Dec. 25.

External Link

A Complete Unknown – Searchlight Pictures