A Complete Unknown

“🎶 The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind. 🎶”

Reserved, mysterious and intimate, A Complete Unknown is an impressive showcase for Timothée Chalamet who captures the enigmatic essence of Dylan, in all his intelligence and introversion, in a film that faithfully champions the folk music genre and sturdily delivers an engaging, albeit overlong music biopic that still ranks amongst the better entries in the genre. 

Discussion Points:

Bob Dylan’s early work heralded a new mainstream breakout for folk music in the US. And as a folk singer, Dylan has become just as much a folk tale of mythic stature as the stories his songs often featured. Dylan is a mystery, or a complete unknown as the title suggests. A counter-cultural non-conformist contrarian who refuses to be boxed in. He has been selfish and combative and unlikeable, yet never explosive or destructive. He’s like a tumbleweed, thorny yet tranquil. Drifting on the wind but dangerous in a storm. Mangold’s approach to Dylan is distant yet delicate. We see Dylan in love and tender weakness, but we also never truly see what makes him tick. He’s still shrouded in an aloof distant shadow that evokes his infamous enigmatic persona. Chalamet captures so much of Dylan’s character, from his voice and mannerisms, to his distracted gaze and determined passive resistance. Dylan causes conflicts and can be incredibly unlikable at times, but he never raises his voice or aggresses - he’s just a musical force who cannot be confined. It’s ironic that for an artist as iconoclast as Dylan, that the film feels so conformist to the music biopic genre. But it’s buoyed, like many biopics, by fantastic performances with Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Scoot McNairy and a scene-stealing Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash being truly memorable. Add some impressive crafts with the sound mixing especially being fantastic as it allows the folk music to really resonate in an aural way that’s almost transcendent. Overall, for fans of Dylan this should satisfy. For fans of folk music, this should entertain. And for anyone curious about why Dylan going electric was such a big deal, A Complete Unknown perfectly captures the disruptive yet creative artistry of a songwriter who couldn’t be confined and continues to be impactful to this day.