A Complete Unknown - A Bob Dylan Biopic

January 28, 2025

By Bessy ADUT

I am excited to write about a movie I loved watching this year and listening to the soundtrack of it as I type.

The movie received 8 Academy Award Nominations! BEST DIRECTOR - James Mangold, BEST ACTOR - Timothee Chalamet, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Edward Norton, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Monica Barbaro, BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - James Mangold & Jay Cocks, BEST COSTUME DESIGN and BEST SOUND. It also received three nominations at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Drama), three at the Critics Choice Awards (including Best Picture), four at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards (including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture) and six at the British Academy Film Awards (including Best Film).

Which ones are going to win? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. :)

In a nutshell, this is a biopic of Bob Dylan. It’s as good as Freddy Mercury’s in my personal opinion. And it says a lot about the music industry which is transferable to the film industry as well.

When I finished watching the movie these were my first thoughts. I respected Bob Dylan a lot for making a stand for what he believed in. He refused to keep playing other artists' songs and rebelled against playing his popular songs over and over again, to keep creating new ones.

I thought at the back of my head, I hope the film industry also gets the message, aren’t we all worn out seeing the same movie remakes over and over again? Another remake, sequel, prequel or a movie just like this other one. Thankfully, most movies in Academy Award nominees aren’t like that. Most original work usually makes the cut. Just like Bob Dylan, I think filmmakers should make a stand to make new films telling original stories.

Here is the official trailer of the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdV-Cs5o8mc.

The genre is considered a biographical musical drama film... The soundtrack is as good as the movie itself I should say, you can give it a listen online.

In the story, we see the progress from Bob Dylan’s first arrival in New York to his stardom and the problems he faces in his professional and personal life.

SPOILER ALERT - From here on preferably read after watching the movie, as I talk about the story.

We see a young Bob Dylan walking in the streets of New York City with his guitar and very little belongings in 1961. He is there to visit one of his musical idols Guthrie who is in the hospital. He also meets Pete Seeger who is going to be a very important person in his musical career. Bob Dylan plays guitar to his idol, a song he wrote for Guthrie.

Pete Seeger is very welcoming and invites him to stay with his family and introduces him to the folk scene in New York. This is where Dylan meets Sylvie Russo at a concert and their romance begins. He moves in with his new girlfriend.

What makes his romantic life more complicated is that he also meets Joan Baez when Seeger introduces them at an open mic night and they start flirting. Bob is introduced to manager Albert Grossman who is impressed by his live performance and takes him on as a client right on spot. Dylan starts working on an album however they are mostly cover songs and they don’t do well in the sales. Joan Baez later encourages Bob Dylan to write his original lyrics.

Dylan has an argument with his girlfriend Russo before she takes off for education in Europe. It seems like she wants to get more serious and take things to the next step. She wants to know more about his past and family. Bob Dylan has an affair with Baez while she is away but they also start an artistic collaboration. Russo starts being jealous and suspicious of their close relationship. They break up 4 years after the initial beginning of their relationship.

Bob Dylan becomes a star in front of our eyes. Now he is recognized on the streets and has a fan base in the folk music community. He goes on a tour with Baez however it ends badly. They argue over Dylan’s ego. Baez would like them to play their popular songs but Dylan objects particularly to one of his most known songs "Blowin’ In the Wind” and he storms off stage in the middle of their performance. Baez continues singing alone.

Bob Dylan wants to try new things and experiment with electric guitar and rock influences. Folk music demands acoustic arrangements. Dylan forms his band together and records Highway 61 Revisited. He wants to play his new songs rock mixed with folk. However, that becomes a big concert for the Newport Folk Festival planning committee. He is hired as a headline for the 1965 concert but they think the audience will not appreciate this new direction and they do anything in their power to try and stop him.

Just like the film industry, apparently, even back in the brave days, the music industry was afraid of letting an artist take his own unique approach and try new things; it is what it is.

As per his romantic life, Dylan tries to fix and heal things with Russo. He invites her to the festival. She jumps on his motorcycle and goes with him. However, after watching Dylan & Baez's performance of "It Ain't Me Babe", she notices the still existing chemistry between him and Baez, and she gets jealous and leaves. Bob Dylan goes after her and tries to change her mind. There is a nice scene where they talk behind a little separation between them. Russo realizes she can’t endure this and Dylan has to let her go sadly.

Dylan has an encounter with Johnny Cash who is very supportive of his electric show and he goes along with it. The crowd is very negative and aggressive at first. Seeger tries to cut the sound to stop this ‘disaster’ however he is stopped from doing so. Dylan rebels and plays the songs that he wants to play. He performs the music he would like to perform not being forced to play his popular songs against all the odds. He relents when Cash lends him his acoustic guitar.

I think what Bob Dylan did here was very brave. I respected him. It wasn’t an easy decision or act at such a young age as a musician. He dared to do that and now he is a classic. He is a living legend and I hope he is proud of his young self.

Yes, Bob Dylan is alive. The American singer-songwriter was born on May 24, 1941. He is still performing and headlined the 2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour.

Back to the movie, when Dylan is ready to take off from Newport on his motorcycle, Baez catches him and tells him that he “Won” against all the odds. She thinks he finally earned his freedom against what everyone else demanded of him.

Bob Dylan visits his idol Guthrie one last time at the hospital which is a perfect book ending and he leaves town much more grown and accomplished as an artist and a person.

I would like to applaud all the main cast Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. He really put a lot into his work. Apparently, Chalamet learned to play the guitar and harmonica and spent time researching Dylan during the pandemic. He also visited Dylan's former houses in New York City. This wasn’t Chalamet’s first musical performance. He also performed as Elvis and Willie Wonka. He has a beautiful voice as well as great acting skills.

Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo...

Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez... Barbaro also took singing and guitar lessons to prepare. She did a great, believable performance as well and she was beautiful.

Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash... They were all a great cast ensemble and performed very well. No wonder the Director is nominated as Best Director.

The film is more than just the controversy surrounding his switch to electric guitars but Bob Dylan listening to his guts more than anyone else and daring to swim against the tides.

Looking at the filming history of production also faced a lot of obstacles with the pandemic and other world events however they completed the film and now it is a nominee in 8 categories at the 97th Academy Awards.

Chalamet sang 40 Bob Dylan songs in the film playing guitars and harmonicas. All performances were recorded live while filming. All cast sang and played their own instruments. The soundtrack can be found online and they also have it available for Vinyl lovers available.

The film was screened at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam and premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

In terms of marketing, Levi's brought back the style of Dylan with the jeans he wore. And the guitar company Gibson came up with the guitars played in the movie. It’s good to have some brands behind your back when running for the Academy Awards.

The film is doing really well at the box office, both in the United States and Worldwide.

The movie has positive and negative criticism but mostly on the positive side. I recommend a watch because of all the amazing performances and nice story however I should agree it is indeed a conventional Hollywood biopic.

A Complete Unknown

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