Few artists have ever maintained the same level of fame and impenetrability asBob Dylan . The genre - redefining American image is do it almost as much for his enigmatic , purposefully aloof persona as he is for his dense , enduring lyricism . It would seem then a foolhardy effort to test to find your way into his closely guard psyche . The closest one could hope to get would be in a more abstractionist employment like Todd Haynes’I’m Not There , which tries to make a complete portrayal of Dylan in all of his enigmatic elusiveness by having six different actor all play him at various points .
If it seek to plunk any further into its subject ’s mind thanI’m Not There , a straightforward , fact - base biopic like film director James Mangold’sA Complete Unknownwould seem doomed from the start . It comes as both an unexpected and welcome surprisal then thatA Complete Unknownisn’t all that implicated with who Bob Dylan is or why he wrote the Song that electrify an entire genesis of counterculturalist listeners in the 1960s . The film ’s interest in such matter is , in fact , succinctly summed up in one memorable scene when a young Joan Baez ( Monica Barbaro ) responds to one of her fellow folk vocaliser ’s account about get word how to act the guitar from other member of a traveling circus by incredulously asking , “ Youwere in a carnival ? ”
Dylan ( Dune : Part TwostarTimothée Chalamet ) replies to her interrogative with an unanswering , clean stare . It ’s a meet response for both an creative person so intentionally withholding and a moving picture as uninterested in enquire how Bob Dylan sees himself as a complete terra incognita . The movie is wisely and , perhaps , of necessity more interested in howeveryone elsesaw him when he emerged in the former ’ 60s , how they each go for to use and control him , as well as how terrifying , exciting , and humbling it is to come face to face with someone whose talent is undeniable .
Based on Elijah Wald ’s bookDylan go Electric!Newport , Seeger , Dylan , and the Night That Split the Sixties , A Complete Unknownfollows Chalamet ’s Bob Dylan as he arrive in New York City in 1961 , quickly climbs his mode up the hierarchy of the American folk scene , and becomes so popular that he start to bristle against the immovableness created by his own fame . The film span just the first four years of Dylan ’s career . Its screenplay , co - write by Mangold and frequent Martin Scorsese partner in crime Jay Cocks , disunite this menses into two halves , both of which climax with performance at the Newport Folk Festival . The first , an acoustic rendition ofThe time They Are a - Changin ’ , works as a rout out crowning of Dylan as the new king of sept . The 2nd , Dylan ’s infamously rowdy live electric debut in 1965 , is well - shop by Mangold , but struggles to twin the lordliness of its precursor , partly becauseA Complete Unknownslightly oversells the trend - bucking nature of its subject ’s sonic swerve .
These scenes , as well as all the performance inA Complete Unknown , only work in any capacity because of Chalamet ’s star turn as Dylan . The new doer does his best to reduplicate his aspiration ’s distinct , nasally yet gravelly voice , and he largely win . At time , his grasp on Dylan ’s voice and affectedness borders on refutable imitation , but Chalamet , for the most part , resists the itch to do too much . Over the past several years , the actor has acquire more and more comfortable in front of the photographic camera , andA Complete obscure , while being neither his best film , nor his estimable playing vitrine , distinguish the culmination of his up - and - occur movie star journeying . Here , he seems well aware of the power his mere presence holds , and he know that he has to do very minuscule other than stand and look a sure way of life to keep your middle glued to him at all multiplication .
Mangold surrounds Chalamet with stomach performances that miraculously match the dewy-eyed index of his lead worker . Edward Norton , in fussy , makes a mark with his gentle , yearn tour as longtime activist and folk player Pete Seeger , who meets Chalamet ’s Dylan when the latter decide inA Complete Unknown‘s turn - binding , surprisingly tender gap scene to visit his hospitalized idol , Woody Guthrie ( Scoot McNairy , devote a transformative , wordless physical performance ) . Sitting on the other side of Guthrie ’s bed , Pete takes an immediate liking to Bob , inviting him to continue with his family and help him ingratiate himself within the bustling Greenwich Village folk community . Elsewhere , Barbaro collapse a strong , view - steal turn as Joan Baez , an already successful and instal folk player whose attractive feature to Chalamet ’s Bob mystifies her — but not enough to finish her from taking vantage of his songwriting natural endowment or letting him just walk over her .
Norton and Barbaro ’s lived - in performances aidA Complete Unknownin its efforts to recreate the New York City of the early ’ 60s . Whether it be all-inclusive dig of Chalamet walking past the Chelsea Hotel or even a small detour into the recreated Gaslight Café , the film does its good to soak up viewers in a specific American subculture during a period when it was at its buzziest . deferred payment must be given to production designer François Audouy and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael , the latter of whom coversA Complete Unknownin a colorful passion that just makes its setting all the more alluring and invite . While the film does stretch itself to get hold a function in its story for Johnny Cash ( a charming , convincing Boyd Holbrook ) , it does n’t pack in too many distracting consultation and historical cameos , either . It continue focussed on charting Dylan ’s rise and the tension that gradually form between him and those around him along the way , though , some of its interpersonal conflicts work out better than others .
Baez ’s on - again , off - again involvement with Bob suffers from the film ’s bifurcate social structure . Although Elle Fanning ’s performance as Sylvie Russo , the girlfriend who help steer Chalamet ’s Dylan toward more politically minded subject thing , is endear and affecting , too , their kinship is never givenA Complete Unknown‘s full attending . Her brokenheartedness over Bob ’s blasé attitude toward their romance is n’t , therefore , as impactful as it might have been were the film more invested in trying to explore its champion ’s national animation . The tight it comes to doing so is in a late - night visit Bob pays to Sylvie inA Complete Unknown‘s second half after a violent face-off with a genitive fan . assay ease , Bob ignores the other human race sleeping in Sylvie ’s apartment and squeeze a cold flannel to the contusion under his optic . “ Everyone asks where the song do from , but when you watch over their faces , they ’re not ask where the songs come from , ” he bitterly tell Sylvie . “ They ’re inquire why they did n’t come in to them . ” Where this realization do from is unclear withinA Complete Unknown‘s framework , but the envy alluded to in this scene turns out to be at the heart of the film and its take on Bob Dylan ’s story .
It most successfully research this touch through Norton ’s Pete , a variety folk purist who quickly pick up in Bob the kind of aid - grabbing potential he ’s long believed the folk conniption and its political ideals has needed . He does his good to elevate Bob , and he delights in see his and Guthrie ’s initial efforts to revive the folk music bowel movement begin to carry fruit . When Bob , however , depart to move away from Pete ’s ideas about the purity of acoustic songwriting and experiment with electrical , rock - driven instrumentation , contentious questions arise about Bob ’s say over his own music and his responsibility to the community that beam a light on him in the first situation . Norton , for his part , masterfully take this fight with the hopeful , puppy - dog looks he throws Chalamet ’s way whenever Pete is watching Bob play or even perform with him .
A Complete Unknownindulges in many of these moment . Chalamet take a perpetually glazed - over quality to his center that makes it seem as though he is always looking both everywhere and nowhere in particular . This quality only makes Chalamet ’s carrying into action stand aside further from his carbon monoxide - stars ’ , with Barbaro , Fanning , and Norton all inquire in multiple scenes to stand and look out with a pitch head and mocking eye as they slowly get sweep up in the magic of Dylan ’s songwriting . These scenes inevitably finger contrived , and they are coarse within music biopics likeA Complete Unknown . The picture makes better use of them than others have throughout the years , though , if only because they make more sense in a drama that is at long last about the world ’s reaction to Bob Dylan and other trailblazers like him .
For better and for worse , A Complete Unknownhas little to declare oneself when it comes to introspective thoughts on Bob Dylan ’s life and it make no attempt to ever question his behaviour or hold him accountable for any of his many misunderstanding and unjustified slight . In its strict , uniquely Mangold - esque formalism , A Complete Unknowndoesn’t ever get close to replicating Dylan ’s boundary - advertize , imaginative intent , either . But , as a portrayal of a culture - change enigma , it ply an effective and often exciting slip back to a time when America was in despairing need of a young , undismayed spokesperson . It is , more impressively , a surprisingly uncompromising , tough-minded exploration of the ways we test to control the artist we lift up and the fear and the anger we experience when their pick out methods of expression change and germinate in ways that make even their most fervent supporters uncomfortable .
strain to control Bob Dylan is as misdirect an enterprise as trying to understand him . possibly those two things are the same . If so , A Complete Unknownhas no sake in doing either . We do n’t , after all , get to choose who is talented and who is not . Why , then , should we get to have any say over what those chosen few do with their gifts ?
A Complete Unknownhits theaters Wednesday , December 25 .
