Hello Readers,
I am back from my holiday hiatus with a review for a film that has created a lot of buzz this awards season. Timothée Chalamet, the king of the December box office is starring in his first musical biopic as the notoriously private and exceptional musician, Bob Dylan. I have heard that Timothée spent six years perfecting his accent and musical talents to play Dylan and it really showed in the film.
I thought the film had an essence similar to the Bob Dylan we see on screen. There was structure but also some mystery and free-wheeling parts where the audience has to go along with the ride in terms of the story. I am always a fan of plot and dates being used so this pleased me but also I do not mind a different narrative structure.
There was a lot of emotion in the film, in part enhanced by Bob Dylan’s relationship with women. He had one long-standing girlfriend, Sylvie played by Elle Fanning and a number of other dalliances including with singer-songwriter, Joan Baez. He does not have many female figures in his life apart from his relationships. He performed with Joan after their relationship which ends poorly. We see some of his mentor to mentee connection with Pete Seeger and his wife, Toshi but none of his family make an appearance in the film.
One part that was dialled back were his views on ending segregation and fighting for racial equality. We see Sylvie watching him at a protest on television and he plays music with people of many different backgrounds but after reading more about him later, I think this portion of his work was sanitised.
A Complete Unknown (2024) Directed by James Mangold
Before watching the film, I did not know much about the early career of Bob Dylan. Throughout his life, he has been private about certain elements but I was even unaware of many public facts. His music has never been one that my family listened to, leaning more towards Queen, David Bowie and 70s rock bands such as Santana, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. It seemed so outdated for the backlash he received when wanting to try other genres as in the 2020s, many artists move from country to pop to rock with each new album or even in the same one. Look at Taylor Swift who had her start writing country songs on her guitar in Nashville and has just finished a two year tour spanning her entire musical catalogue featuring pop, singer-songwriter, pop rock and many other sub-genres.
These days, Bob Dylan plays to sold-out stadiums filled with fans who love any song he writes and plays but it was a different time in the 1960s when society was at a moment of tension and rebirth. In America, men were being sent to the front line in Vietnam to fight a war they had no stake in whereas black and brown people still could not attend the same schools or even use the same bathroom as white people. It was a time when people started fighting for social change and equality harder than ever before with previous movements such as the Suffragettes only being fought for a small segment of the population and by a small group.
Dylan moves to New York City with little more than a guitar on his back at the young age of 19 to see one of his musical heroes, Woody Guthrie. Upon finding his idol being looked after by Pete Seeger, another famous face in the folk scene, Bob plays his song to them and forms attachments that help project him into stardom. Throughout the film, he becomes more and more famous for his folk songs but yearns to write and perform his own music that is more of a rock nature featuring electric instruments.
Timothée has the perfect nature to play Dylan as you can see his soul through his eyes and Dylan’s quiet persona is a popular trope that Timothée has played many times in films such as Call Me By Your Name, Miss Stevens and Wonka. As Dylan becomes more famous, you can tell the effect it has on him by the strain in his relationships, his wardrobe and his songs. He becomes almost fervent with making music as it is what the record companies and his fans demand of him and the only part of himself that he wants to give.
His up-and-down relationship with fellow folk singer, Joan Baez is a main feature of his early career. Bob can behave in a selfish way in his relationships with women, often coming to them with his problems but reluctant to offer the same in return. Joan fell under his spell, hearing him sing at a small underground bar and despite his current relationship with Sylvie, Bob falls for her too. They are billed to America as the folk prince and princess but after Bob refuses to sing Joan’s song on stage with her, a rift is opened between them.
Sylvie is a young woman that Bob met at church and studies in the city. Bob ends up living with her but during a trip away, his attention goes elsewhere. Sylvie moves on, determined not to be the girl who trails around after a rising star but always has space for him when he drops by including going to the Newport Folk Festival with him, the very same place that she realised Bob was now lost to Baez.
After Dylan’s relationships with Joan and Sylvie, we see him make more male connections, starting to play and record with a band including someone he met at a bar shortly before being punched in the face. He also has male role models in Pete and Johnny Cash to whom he writes often and plays with in Newport.
I think that this film was produced well and while some elements such as protesting for equality were toned down, I think it gave the audience an overview of who Bob Dylan was in the early 1960s before his long-lasting career. We never learn anything about his family or backstory other than his real name is Robert Zimmerman and he lived in the Mid-West. He tells Sylvie stories about living with a travelling circus but she is always skeptical of this. He has one scrapbook of his childhood that is shown briefly but Sylvie chooses to take Bob at his word and not delve too deeply into his past.
Overall, I enjoyed the film and seeing it in a boutique cinema added a class and atmosphere to the film that wouldn’t have happened watching it on a standard screen. I would be interested in watching the film again just to absorb the world that was created and see the talent of the cast. The film has been nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and other awards this season and I think it is deserving but there is a lot of competition and other films with more obvious social commentary or diversity may have more of a shot.
I give it 5/5.
Happy Watching,
Robyn
