‘Here comes the story of Hurricane,’ Bob Dylan wrote about Rubin Carter, the heavyweight boxing champ who’d been framed for murder in the 1970s. Even at the height of his fame Dylan instinctively knew things around him were bigger than him. A Complete Unknown the new James Mangold Bob Dylan biopic (Walk the Line, Ford Vs Ferrari) like it’s subject and unlike other biopics isn’t so self absorbed to think that its central character changed everything, but he certainly changed a lot. The winds of change were blowing from that very moment we see Dylan moving slowly, but defiantly through New York’s music scene, quietly confident in his abilities not only to revolutionise himself in the folk scene, but to embed himself in it. The stillest part of the hurricane after all, is at its centre.
Doing away with typical biopic tropes
Instead of meeting him in his youth to see how the seed started as with the typical biopic tropes, we are introduced to Dylan when he’s on the precipice of fame. We see his almost biblical commitment to folk and lyrics, and with that determination evident, women, fans and record producers alike are drawn to him like a moth to a flame. The key issue at play here is how Dylan remains forthright (which some people may read as ‘grumpy’) in his vision, and is almost allergic to other people’s perceptions of who he is and what he stands for. When people start running towards him after Blowin’ in the Wind, he’d already let that fire burn out and was on to the next, so he follows his instincts in moving from acoustic to electric, leading an observant roadie to surmise ‘he’s on lightbulbs, while you’re still pushing candles.’ A nice, tightly constructed film follows in a distinct time period that showcases the subtle frenzy whipped up by this mysterious folkster from Duluth.
To showcase change through his character arc it was important to highlight the wider cultural narrative, and it wasn’t shoehorned in. A particularly amusing sequence that you don’t often see the aftermath of is the 1962 Cuban missive crisis. Mangold shows the streets in chaos, civilians panicked and yet simultaneously strangely free as they fear their time on earth is nigh. Dylan and Joan Baez get together that night believing they’ll never wake up. It humorously showed the bin men still at work the next morning and just last night the noble, impulsive decision quite quickly turned into a stupid one they’d actually have to live with. While Baez was clearly a decent match for Dylan in terms of ability and that shines through, there’s an overall sentiment that the female characters are a bit two dimensional. Suze Rotolo, his first pre-fame girlfriend and the mysterious Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan cover girl is played by Elle Fanning, a subdued, submissive and agreeable presence during the film. It’s the one character that Dylan allegedly provided extensive script notes on, showing it was a character he was keen to protect. Whether that was to shield her reputation or indeed his own memories I guess we’ll never know.
The Chalamet Effect
Timothee Chalamet is, despite what some protest, worth the hype. It may take the audience a few scenes before you accept him as Dylan, but then just as all the great character studies do, you soon don’t know where Dylan starts and Chalamet ends. Considering he plays this character with sunglasses on and has his eyes covered for half the film he does a pretty good job at convincing you. A recent headline said that Disney employees couldn’t tell the difference between Dylan and Chalamet’s recordings, and it all seemed a bit self-congratulatory but when you see it you can see why. If you missed Dylan in concert then this is the perfect substitute, with songs back to back really optimising Chalamet’s talent. Ed Norton is certainly in Oscar buzz territory, and the leading actor of course will be nominated as the young ingenue done good.
How will it perform?
How will A Complete Unknown perform at the box office? Chalamet is a massive draw, particularly among Gen Z, but he’ll soon be in demand among all generations of other audience demographics. The challenge will be in generating enough noise to get people out to cinemas. With an Oscar nomination almost guaranteed for its lead star that kind of acknowledgement goes a long way to encouraging bums on seats.
There’s no doubt that Mangold’s masterpiece is Walk the Line, it hits better emotionally as the story focuses much more on examining Cash’s private life. As Bowie eloquently sang ‘About a strange young man called Dylan /With a voice like sand and glue,’ after two and a bit hours Dylan remains both strange and a stranger. After all he has made a name for himself of being a complete contradiction – always self reflecting, but always mysterious. In fact, the audience is not much closer to knowing Dylan by the end, but strangely it doesn’t matter because we got a chance to see how he quietly sped up the winds of change.
FILM FOR THOUGHT 