James Mangold’s film about Bob Dylan functions on the principle that guides the more memorable biopics of well-known personalities: “can’t know, don’t want to know”. A Complete Unknown takes its title from Dylan’s 1965 song Like A Rolling Stone. Dylan’s profound lyrics, which made him a cultural touchstone and won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016, provide the most pointed clues to his enduring enigma.
The Oscar-nominated movie, which is out in cinemas, is based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties. The screenplay by Mangold and Jay Cocks uses Dylan’s transition from acoustic to electrical guitar as a framing device for a riff on musical traditions, celebrity and the cult of genius.
Dylan’s technical shift takes place over four momentous years. Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York City in 1961. While his background is hazy, there is no doubt about how fully formed he already is.
While visiting his ailing hero Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), Dylan runs into renowned folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Seeger and his wife Toshi (Eriko Hatsune) watch over Dylan’s steady progress as might fond parents. Dylan’s popularity revitalises American folk music, making him a top draw at the Newport Folk Festival, but he soon comes to resent the burden of being the scene’s poster boy.
There are other strong influences and impressions on the 20-year-old recording marvel. Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvie (Elle Fanning) introduces him to the counterculture movements prevalent in America in the 1960s. Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), already a star by the time Dylan meets her, develops an often testy personal and professional relationship with him.
Landing in an era in which a public personality’s every detail is up for grabs, A Complete Unknown suggests that some things are best left unsaid, especially when the songs themselves are doing the telling. Although A Complete Unknown is sometimes as frustratingly opaque as Dylan about his motivations or politics, the film vividly captures his musical evolution.
The rush provided by live performances, the intimacy between collaborators, the sweet sweat of the recording studio – these elements, backed by brilliant sound design and Chalamet’s remarkable rendition of early Dylan hits, give the movie an immersive, pulsating quality. Mangold, who previously directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, has a palpable feel for the moment when a song is fleshed out from its most basic note.
The Dylan mythos survives the 143-minute runtime. Chalamet’s superb portrayal of Dylan has a gnomic flavour, hints of excessive self-regard but also the wisdom of a very old head on young shoulders. The other cast members are excellent too, with Mangold’s attention equally focused on his rising star and the constellation of which he is the centre.
