In A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet shines as the young Bob Dylan. The movie tells the story of Dylan’s rise from folk to electric music.
1. The movie looks at Dylan’s famous “electric” moment at the Newport Folk Festival.
2. Timothée Chalamet plays Dylan with a lyrical charm that feels real.
Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, a movie about the early years of the famous musician, from 1961 to 1965.
During this time, Dylan went from being a folk music star to having his groundbreaking “electric” moment at the Newport Folk Festival in a matter of months.
The James Mangold-directed film examines Dylan’s artistic prowess at a crucial juncture in American music history.
In a social media post, Bob Dylan himself praised Chalamet’s choice of character, saying that he would “be completely believable as me.”
Or a younger version of myself. Or a different me.” Dylan hadn’t seen the movie yet, but his trust in Chalamet seems to be well placed.
Chalamet gives Dylan’s early character a literary undertone by capturing his moony eyes, small frame, and quiet but determined spirit.
Even though Chalamet does a great job of imitating Dylan’s voice, it’s his acting that really stands out.
Dylan “going electric” at Newport, where folk fans don’t like it, is the most important part of the movie.
It leads to a famous moment. When a fan yells “Judas!” Dylan smiles and says, “You’re lying.” “I don’t believe you.”
Dylan broke away from traditional American folk music at this event, which led to one of the most innovative musical careers in history.
What’s good about the movie?
- Chalamet’s Casting: With his creative energy and love draw, he would be a great fit for young Dylan.
- People who play supporting roles: actors like Edward Norton (Pete Seeger) give the folk music scene more depth.
- Newport Folk Festival: shows Dylan’s risky move into the electric age.
- Thoughtful Direction: Good story, but it doesn’t have the emotion of his songs.
Even though A Complete Unknown is well put together, it doesn’t fully capture the impact of Dylan’s artistic movement.
Even though Mangold’s work is well done, it’s not as lively as the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis or other movies about folk music.
Dylan’s tryout relationships, especially with Joan Baez, could have made things more interesting on an emotional level.
Still, Chalamet’s performance shows how powerful Dylan was as a cultural change agent. The movie makes people think about the music legend’s wild creative spirit, even though it doesn’t fully show how mysteriously brilliant he was.