“A Complete Unknown”: My Belated Take
Posted: March 4th, 2025 | Filed under: Cinema, Music | 2 Comments »
As I vowed in my initial post providing reasons why I, a Bob Dylan acolyte since he crashed onto the scene in the early 60s, wasn’t a premier day viewer of the Dylan flick, I watched it a couple days ago streaming.
Despite my admittedly haughty take at first — we of strong opinion are reluctant to dismount our high horse — I clicked “Watch Now” with an open mind.
Mostly because of the wise perspective of Joan Osborne.
Not because she’s a Louisville homie, who at her show a few years back on the Waterfront, talked about being at Waggener HS, and never imaging the possibility of performing in her town on the river in front of a throng.
And not because in her take — on Facebook by the by — she advises readers to go view other Dylan films, the very ones I mentioned in my above linked post.
What struck me is her take that, if for nothing else, the biopic provides a history lesson for younger music lovers, who might wonder why all the fuss about this guy with zero stage persona, a craggy voice, who is a defiant, vexing chameleon.
Advice that resonated with me.
The story I tell is of the day in ’77 when Bing Crosby died just a few months after Elvis.
The notice of his demise was a headline above the front page fold of the then worthy and heralded Courier-Journal. A music obsessive, I simply didn’t understand how this cardigan-wearing crooner, most famous (to me anyway) for “White Christmas,” was worthy of such newsiness.
Then I researched coming to realize he was more or less the Elvis of his day. Bing’s heyday was way before my time.
Osborne was spot on. If you weren’t aware of Dylan in the 60s and 70s when he was simply magical and transcendent, you might not understand.
So, viewing through those glasses, I enjoyed the film way more than expected.
Least of all, to be honest, because of Timothée Chalamet. I mean, he’s fine, alright I suppose. He sings all the songs. Well and good. Nice to hear. But not close to as powerful as the real thing.
He does convey Dylan’s petulance and pissiness, but, frankly, not with the same biting dismissiveness as the real early Dylan on the rise. But enough to get a sense of it all. Genius Dylan is, he was a schmuck, as easily viewed in footage from those Greenwich Village days.
The movie focuses on Dylan’s breakthrough after hitching to NYC through his infamous electric set at Newport, when he threw down the gauntlet with a searing, sneering version of “Maggie’s Farm.”
His relationship with Joan Baez. Monica Barbaro doesn’t come close to conveying the real Baez.
Conversely, Edward Norton’s Pete Seeger is brilliant. Not only for his speaking manner, but his kumbaya outlook on life and the power of folk music to change the world for the better.
Elle Fanning plays the Suze Rotolo character, with a different name for some reason. That’s Rotolo with Bob on the cover of “Freewheelin’.” Wouldn’t have a clue how close her portrayal is.
James Mangold, as happens in most of these deals, takes a great bit of dramatic license. To complain about would render a fellow like me disingenuous. I’ve taken such liberties with facts often in my writing forever.
Seeger wasn’t in Woody Guthrie’s room at Greystone when Dylan arrived. And many more.
I really liked the choices of Dylan’s early songbook used in the movie. “When the Ship Comes In.” “Times They Are A Changin’.” “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Obviously no story of those Dylan days would be legit without the recreation of Al Kooper sneaking into the studio to play that famous organ riff on “Like A Rolling Stone.”
In a collage sort of way, the movie gives a fair and decent expression of the unwashed phenomenon’s arrival and seizure of the Village folks scene.
What isn’t covered, and justifiably so for it would have thinned out the factual elements even more, is how the convergence of Dylan’s early electric period with the Beatles’ transformative explorations changed rock & roll, pop music forever.
That’s another flick at another time.
So, yeah, “A Complete Unknown.”
Enjoyed it.
Grateful to have been there in real time at the beginning.
— c d kaplan
I agree… not for nothing,I think the movie exposed Dylan and his music to 18 to 20-year-olds who have no idea who or what he was/
there’s so many layers to Dylan and his career I could almost imagine a Netflix two season or three seasons of 36 one hour shows getting in depth on all the characters… maybe another time…
Not only the 18-20 year olds Jay – I posit that anyone born after 1980 (45 year olds) would benefit from this exposure to the early years
! My two daughters 29 & 32 saw the film with their mom and absolutely loved it a the 3 of them all live in NYC & walk those hallowed Village streets daily –
And CDK streaming A Complete Unknown is not good form – especially given your cinematic chops – as Sean Baker eloquently said on Sunday night :
We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said. “Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, and, in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you don’t get at home. And right now, the theater-going experience is under threat.”
“Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters are struggling,” Baker continued. “During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in the U.S. And we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.”
. “Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters and you’ll be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And when we can, please watch movies in the theater and let’s keep the great tradition of the movie-going experience alive and well.”
Watching the Dylan film communally at Baxter Filmworks on Opening Day @ the first showing was a beautifully affirming experience – as far as Chalamet’s performance goes – this guy spent 5 years of his life immersing himself in this role and I applaud his commitment and his fellow castmates felt empowered by him –