In 1961, a nineteen-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York as a complete unknown. By 1965 he is the most famous musician in the world and about to deliver a groundbreaking electric performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. 

A Complete Unknown is a classic biopic that chooses to focus on a fixed period in time of its protagonist’s life. Here we see Dylan arrive in New York, make friends within the industry, fall in love with and be inspired by two important women in his life, become hugely famous and then rail against the confines of the folk music scene that made him famous. 

Timothee Chalamet disappears inside of the role of Dylan. So much so that I have found myself listening to his versions of Dylan staples on the soundtrack album that accompanies the film. His mannerisms, intonation and live performances of the songs are wonderful. The wardrobe, hair and make up departments finish the job perfectly. Perhaps the creative team and Chalamet can return to the subject matter every five years and essay Dylan’s life story one film at a time? 

Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo provide the film with its heart and its protagonist with his muses. Their relationships with Dylan almost seem opposing in the way they react to him and this creates an interesting frisson. Baez is challenged by him and becomes combative. Russo on the other hand is totally in love and has her heart broken. Fanning’s scenes which recreate the album cover shoot for “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” are a special moment in the film and Barbaro’s duets feel equally important. 

Elsewhere there are many other performances to love that cast light on other aspects of Dylan’s life. The scene where he meets his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and plays him a song is exceptional and is the catalyst for his friendship with Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) who helps him into the folk scene. His penpal friend Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) encourages him to create chaos and mayhem. And his manager Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) for once appears to be a music manager not quite as bad as all the others that you see in these sort of biopics. Of all of these brilliant supporting performances I would have to single out Edward Norton whose performance subtly shows that he too had his heart broken by Dylan. 

The film’s only drawbacks are that its portrayal of Dylan and the events of these four years of his life could be considered rather safe. There are no innovative filming techniques, no manipulation of time and how events are portrayed and no outlandish interpretations of events. Based on the book, “Dylan Goes Electric” by Elijah Wald and adapted for the screen by Jay Cocks and James Mangold (who also directs), A Complete Unknown is an accomplished and straightforward biopic. 

Fans of Dylan will be happy and proceed to play both the soundtrack to this film and Dylan’s music for days after watching (apologies to my family and neighbours).