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To
call Bob Dylan an
enigma has become a
cliché, but like other
cliches it became one
because it is
true. So how does
anyone decode
Dylan? Filmmakers
have tried for the last
sixty years. The
attempts include Don't Look Back, D.A.
Pennebaker's chronicle
of Dylan's 1965 concert
tour in England; No
Direction Home, Martin
Scorsese's 2005
documentary
concentrating on
Dylan's early career;
and I'm Not There, Todd
Haynes' 2007 film that
uses six actors to
portray different
aspects of Dylan,
including a woman (Cate
Blanchett) and a Black
preadolescent (Marcus
Carl Franklin).
Dylan's contemporaries
were unanimous in
praising his talent,
and equally unanimous
in being puzzled by him
personally.
Scorsese quotes several
of them in No Direction Home. Liam
Clancy: "It wasn't
necessary for him to be
a defined
personality…he
was possessed.
And he articulated what
the rest of us wanted
to say but couldn't
say." Dave Van
Ronk: "If there is such
a thing as a collective
unconscious, Bobby
tapped into
that." Joan Baez:
"Bob is one of the most
complex people I've
ever met. I tried
to figure him out, but
I gave it up. I
don't know what he
thought about.
All I know is what he
gave us."
James Mangold's A Complete Unknown is
the first traditional
feature film biography
of Dylan. Some
have criticized it for
being too traditional
in its structure and
its presentation of its
characters, most of
whom really lived and
many of whom still
do. However, A Complete Unknown is
compelling throughout
its running time and
makes us believe
absolutely in the
authenticity of its
portrait of
Dylan.
The screenplay by Mangold and Jay Cocks—based on Elijah
Wald's book Dylan Goes Electric--covers roughly the same time
period as No Direction Home. It begins in 1961 with the 19-year
-old Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arriving in New York from his
native Minnesota. He grabs a quick drink, then takes a cab he
can't afford to a hospital in New Jersey to pay homage to his hero
Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). Guthrie, mute and bedridden
with Huntington's disease, has another visitor, also one of Dylan's
heroes: Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Seeger is intrigued by the
laconic young stranger, and impressed with "Song for Woody,"
the original song Dylan wrote for Guthrie. Seeger takes Dylan
home to meet his family; during the drive, he quizzes the younger
man about his musical influences, and becomes convinced that he
has discovered a rare talent.
A Complete Unknown progresses through the familiar story of
Dylan's rise. Seeger introduces him to important people,
including manager Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler), musicologist
Alan Lomax (Norbert Leo Butz), and rising star Joan Baez
(Monica Barbaro), who has already appeared on the cover of Time. During the same period Dylan meets idealistic young
Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning, playing a lightly fictionalized version
of Dylan's actual girlfriend Suze Rutolo) and moves in with her.
According to the movie, Dylan and Sylvie bond over the film Now,
Voyager, which stars Bette Davis as a woman who remakes her
life. In time we see how the theme of remaking your life appeals
to Dylan. He is sparing in telling Sylvie anything about his earlier
life, except to say he worked at a carnival, which Sylvie has reason
to doubt. She further wonders about Dylan when he starts
receiving packages addressed to Robert Zimmerman. But what
most bothers her is Dylan's air of entitlement, although his sense
of humor alleviates that.
"You think you're God, don't you?" she shouts at him.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" he answers. "YES!"
When Sylvie leaves on a trip, Dylan takes that as a cue to start an
affair with Baez. Baez is far more assertive than Sylvie, and far
more willing to confront Dylan. "You are so completely full of
shit," she tells him. She says this after he tells her that her
original songs are as bland as the paintings in a dentist's office.
He doesn't disagree with her.
A Complete Unknown depicts Dylan's rising stardom on the
Greenwich Village scene; the disappointing reception to his first
album; the greater popularity he achieves as soon as he can start
recording his own songs; and the assemblage of the group--
-including Bob Neuwirth (Will Harrison), Mike Bloomfield (Eli
Brown) and Al Kooper (Charlie Tahan)—that backed Dylan on Highway 61 Revisited and at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
In our day it is difficult to understand the controversy at that
festival; to us, the music is all Dylan, and it's all great. But in
1965, bringing electric instruments to a folk festival was sacrilege. A Complete Unknown's version of the festival depicts boos and
catcalls from the opening bars of "Maggie's Farm," as well as a
fistfight between Grossman and Lomax. Seeger doesn't try to cut
the cables (as legend has him doing), but he is tempted. He hates
what he's hearing, but simultaneously he realizes Dylan's music is
evolving to a place where he and other traditional folkies can't
follow. "We're here digging with our little teaspoons," he tells
Dylan, "and you come in with a shovel!"
A Complete Unknown is engrossing in its depiction of Dylan as—it
must be said—a genius. The film portrays that genius as
undeniable, even if the man who possesses it is often less than
likable. (One review of the movie bore the tagline, "Man, Legend,
Jerk.") Never mind: Timothee Chalamet ensures that you can't
take your eyes off this problematic bard. Chalamet's Dylan is
seductive and irksome by turns, tuned to a wavelength that others
cannot comprehend. His rudeness masks a deep reverence and a
lofty sense of purpose. His final visit to Guthrie demonstrates that
beyond doubt, as does his final conversation with Baez.
A Complete Unknown is superbly acted down to the smallest part;
my favorite, besides Chalamet, is Norton, who is brilliant at
capturing Seeger's sturdy, earnest good humor. The photography
of Phedon Papamichael and the production design of Francois
Audouy look absolutely authentic and give the film a bracing, you
-are-there verisimilitude.
But all this excellence would mean nothing if the music weren't
convincing. Chalamet, Norton, Barbaro, and Boyd Holbrook as
Johnny Cash all do their own singing and play their own
instruments, and they sound as much like the originals as anyone
could hope. (A Complete Unknown implies that Cash
understands Dylan in a way that Seeger, Baez, and others don't.)
The commitment the actors made to the music was enormous;
Chalamet alone spent six years practicing, and practice made
perfect. Unlike most music in movies, the songs in A Complete
Unknown were recorded live. As Chalamet explained in a 60
Minutes interview, the songs were pre-recorded, but the sound
was too smooth, too engineered. To get the authentic sound, the
actors had to play live.
And what songs they play! When you hear Norton singing, "This
Land is Your Land," Chalamet and Barbaro singing a duet on "It
Ain't Me, Babe," or Chalamet soloing on "The Times They Are A
-Changin'" or "Like a Rolling Stone" (the song that, of course,
gives this film its title), you are hearing something magical.
A Complete Unknown reminds us that the folk music scene of the
1960s was a crucial moment in American musical history. What
Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Joan Baez started, Bob Dylan
took to another level. Then, according to the end of A Complete
Unknown, Dylan roared off on his motorcycle. He crashed. And
he survived.
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