A Complete Unknown
Hey everyone, and welcome, today, we will be talking about the film A Complete Unknown. Fun Fact: Most of the actors in this movie didn’t know how to play the instrument their character played prior to filming and learned how to play to better embody their characters. This film came out in 2024 and stars Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro and was directed by James Mangold. So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.
A Complete Unknown tells the story of Bob Dylan, showing how he moved to New York with a dream and how, after he rose to fame singing folk music, he wanted to shake things up even if those around him weren’t that supportive of his decisions.
A Complete Unknown is a Music Biopic. It has similar vibes to Elvis, Rocketman, or Walk the Line.
Going into this movie, I knew nothing about Bob Dylan, Shoot, I didn’t even know he was alive. I love Timothee as an actor, so he drew me to the movie, but I also was interested in learning a bit about Bob Dylan, considering I knew nothing about his life or music. I think that's the beauty of these biopics: when done right, it can show fans a side of a musician the viewer never knew, and for people like myself who are unfamiliar, it can be an introduction to the artist and see how they rose to fame and how their life was changed.
Timothee Chalamet plays Bob Dylan, and I am amazed at how he is able to adapt to his roles because he’s not only dressing like him but also singing like him, talking like him, and mastering his mannerisms. When he spoke, I could obviously tell it was him, but he didn't sound like he does in other movies or in interviews and nailed that midwestern accent. You may be wondering why it is a shock, but I've seen some biopics where the actor really can't sing or get the voice down, and Timothee did such a great job. He also was able to show how Bob's body language wasn't always the most inviting, and we saw in the film that Bob could be quite short and easy to irritate. He has long nails in the movie, and while watching, I was thinking hmm, that's an interesting choice but after I saw pics of Bob with long nails like that, which is minor but cool to pay attention to. I think Timothee was perfect for this role because he makes you believe he is a young Bob and stands out, but in a way that doesn't have you questioning some of his choices in the movie.
Seeing Bob’s rise was great, and I love how they went from him being up and coming to super famous in a split second, which made me think of that idea of an overnight success. In the film, we see how he comes into town with nothing and how he is told to make music covers by a label which bombs and is not what he wants, and when he starts making music like he wants, then he starts finding success. It's interesting to see how he seemed pretty reserved but also how if he wanted something done a specific way when recording, he would do it and not ask for anyone's permission. I think being in any industry where you are putting out your personal product, you need to have faith in yourself, and there will always be people doubting you, but I liked that Bob surrounded himself with people more open-minded to seeing what his vision was. The part of his life the movie focuses on is his rise, especially in the folk music world, and I love how it ends with him going a different route with his music because the people organizing the folk festival were set in their ways and didn't want to hear him playing with these electric instruments compared to the more acoustic ones. It was cool to see how Bob wanted to experiment with other sounds, and as someone who listens to a lot of music, I'm always fascinated when artists change sounds completely, and I think it's a great way to keep current fans entertained, expand your audience, and most importantly do something that excites you if you get tired of the same old routine.
Elle Fanning was great in her role as Sylvie. She was a part of Bob’s world and deeply cared for him, but she also was an outsider due to her being the only person not involved in music and having such a different relationship because some of the ways these musicians behaved weren't the norm for her. Sylvie and Bob clashed because of her wanting to know more about his past, and I realized that the movie never did go into his past before he moved to New York, and Bob never wanted to indulge, either. She did a great job expressing how she was feeling on her face, and you could really see the pain, especially in the end when she decided to leave Bob for one last time. I kind of liked them together because I felt she was grounded, and he needed someone not involved in that lifestyle, but he wanted to be a free spirit some of his actions weren't the most considerate, and you could tell she still cared, but she had to let go.
Monica Barbero was great as Joan Baez, who I shockingly had no clue about prior to this movie. She catches Bob's eye early on, and they have random flings throughout the movie. They collaborate on music, and the moment they have a disagreement, everything falls apart, and Joan sees Bob's true colors. Bob is great with performing and making music, but he wants to do what he wants to do and doesn't want to compromise, which leads to a small issue when they are performing live, and he doesn't want to perform a song, so he just leaves even though that's what his fans want and Joan is more open to listening to the fans. I think Bob doing what he wants and trying different things led to him being as iconic, but it also hurt relationships like his one with Baez. Baez seemed like a cool artist who loved folk music and social justice and combined those two passions and appreciated the people who really enjoyed that while listening to her music.
Edward Norton plays Pete Seeger, who I guess you could say found Bob Dylan. It was interesting to see how he is kind of like a father figure to Bob and tries to support him in his music career. You can see Bob is slightly annoyed with him when he becomes famous, but he also respects him and appreciates how he has helped him. He ends up in a weird place where he's a big part of the folk festival and wants to keep up with tradition, but he also supports Bob and has seen his career grow and how folk music has benefitted from that and struggles to pick a side to stand on. I loved Pete's dedication to social issues and how he wasn't afraid to face them head-on, even if he would get in legal trouble because of it. I loved how he and his wife were a team and worked so well together, and she helped him not to make any bad decisions.
Scoot McNairy plays Woody Guthrie and does a great job showing him living with Huntingtons' Disease, which is a neurodegenerative disease that affects body movements and is hereditary. I don't remember the movie saying the disease’s name, but in hindsight, it makes sense as to why there wasn't a chance for him to get better. Even with this disease, he supported Bob and tried to ensure that Peete knew Bob had talent and to help him out. I was happy that even though Bob was leaving at the end, he still made it a point to go and see him before he left.
The outfits were very subtle but were great to show Dylan’s growth in popularity and also how he strayed from traditional folk music. In the beginning, we see Bob coming looking more working class and someone who knows the struggle. He's not dressed very fancy, and he really only has his guitar and whatever clothes are on his back. When he gets more popular, we see him in this leather jacket and always wearing shades, which tells me he is more popular and richer because he is able to afford nicer things. Even when he goes to the folk festival, most of the people dress very humble and relaxed, and Bob stands out because he dresses differently, like a rock and roll artist who just has this coolness to him. The outfits that the characters wear, I think, also showed how everyone seemed to be pretty chill and didn't focus on buying the most expensive stuff but wanted to focus on the injustice in the world and music.
I don’t listen to folk music, but I do think this movie made me appreciate folk music more. I always lumped it with country, and it does sound a bit similar, but it seems like folk music, or at least what's portrayed in this movie, is more socially conscious, which I didn't know. There were some songs played, and I realized I had heard covers of the song but were sung in a different style, and it was interesting to see how they were either folk songs or because they were popular because of folk music. I don't think I'll start listening to folk music, but it was interesting to learn a bit more about the genre itself, who some of the important people in that genre were, and how they had a festival to celebrate that music. It's just funny that the music was so progressive for the time, but in terms of what they wanted to hear at the festival, they were so conservative.
I think my favorite part of the movie was the performance of the actors. I had an idea that Timothee would be good, but I was pleasantly surprised by Monica Barbero, Elle Fanning, Ed Norton, and Scoot Mcnairy. It was fascinating to learn a bit about these characters, and I thought they got great actors to play them.
A Complete Unknown is a great Biopic that really opened my eyes to the life of Bob Dylan and how he changed folk music and paved his own path to success. It was interesting to see his relationships and how they were affected by his career and how he went through life. The cast was great and the music was great even though it’s not my favorite genre of music.
