Like a Complete Unknown (A Complete Unknown) 
U.S.A.
2024
Opening 27 Feb 2025
Directed by:
James Mangold
Writing credits:
James Mangold, Jay Cocks, Elijah Wald
Principal actors:
Timothée Chalamet, Joe Tippett, Edward Norton, Eriko Hatsune, Peter Gray Lewis
This amazing biopic, based on Elijah Wald's 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!” covering the coming-to-fame of Bob Dylan between 1961 and 1965, is a must-see not only for Dylan fans. Director James Mangold, who has directed a wide range of genres, already gave the audiences a masterpiece biopic when he did Walk the Line in 2005, in which Joaquin Phoenix played Johnny Cash. Now we see Timothée Chalamet become Bob Dylan in every way imaginable: the voice (all principal actors do their own singing!), the hair, the gestures, even the long fingernails... every detail fits. Chalamet, who is co-producer of the film, has spent years preparing for his role, learning to sing and play the guitar and harmonica. But not just Chalamet, also Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Elle Fanning (who plays Dylan's girlfriend Sylvie Russo, whose real name is Suze Rotolo) and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, give fantastic performances.
The film begins with Dylan (he has already changed his name from Robert Zimmerman to Dylan, after the poet Dylan Thomas), at the age of 19, arriving in New York City from his home state Minnesota to visit his great musical idol Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy) in hospital. There he meets Guthrie's friend Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Dylan plays and sings for them in the hospital room, and a friendship is formed. Seeger takes Dylan along to his home and family. Playing in clubs in New York's West Village, Dylan meets Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) for the first time. Baez, who is already well-known, starts covering some of Dylan's songs, and they perform together.
The climax of the biopic is Dylan's performance at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965. Until then folk music was played with acoustic guitars. Dylan was supposed to play three songs, and used a Fender electric guitar, backed by an amplified rock'n'roll band. Traditional 'folkies' booed and called Dylan 'Judas' and 'traitor'. Pete Seeger almost cut off the sound, and it wasn't until Dylan gave an encore using his old acoustic guitar, that the crowd calmed down. But he had made a statement which was to influence the future of his musical career, spanning six decades. As we know, Bob Dylan is the only singer-songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature! (Ulrike Lemke)
