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Bob Dylan exploded into my teenage life at the perfect moment. I was an endlessly curious fourteen-year-old girl and aspiring writer and journalist. One memorable summer afternoon, Lay Lady Lay drifted over the airwaves on Capital Radio, just as my best friend from school and I were reading her big sister's love letters, lounging on her big brass bed, rapt in wonder and confusion, as we pondered what sex, hormones and crazy, intense feelings were all about.
Oh, and I knew that Dylan wasn't singing about a Labrador!
That was the day I became a Bob Dylan disciple and began to follow him along that glittering, rock 'n' roll road that hasn't ended yet.
I was hooked on it all from Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands to It Ain't Me Babe, Leopardskin Pill Box Hat and Ballad of a Thin Man and the collaborations with Robbie Robertson and the Band, Johnny Cash and Joan Baez.
Over the years, I have seen Bob in concert three times, at Wembley, The Brixton Academy and The Hammersmith Apollo. Each audience with Bob was a happening. A carnival. At Wembley, he was the top-hatted rock 'n' roll circus ring master, and at Brixton, every generation turned out to celebrate from octogenarians to newborn babies.
I have all his albums on vinyl, I've poured over his paintings in a Bond St Gallery searching for clues, watched the films and docs, especially the Pennebaker doc, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and The Wonderboys and if I had to choose one song or three, it would probably still be Girl from the North Country, Forever Young and Desolation Row.
So, I have resisted watching A Complete Unknown, the story of Bob Dylan's rise from unknown troubadour to electrifying rock n roll poet agent provocateur, superstar portrayed by actor de jour, Timothee Chalamet.
Chalamet certainly has some nerve to even attempt to play Bob Dylan, a troubadour for the ages, par excellence. He dares to take up residence as Dylan the poet icon who has endured for 68 years, wandering the earth on the never-ending tour and all the while perfecting the art of being unknowable.
I couldn't bear the idea of being disappointed or worse, mad. Then, I finally did it. I watched A Complete Unknown, which explores the first four years of Dylan's revolutionary arrival and got hooked on the music all over again. The scenes where a young Dylan explodes into the world with his guitar and storytelling from the East Village to Monterey and the Newport Folk Festival feel reasonably authentic, if ever so slightly staged. Praise must be heaped on Edward Norton who deserves equal laurels for his marvellous, affecting and noble portrayal of Pete Seeger, the folk legend who did so much to help the young Robert Zimmerman and open doors and for never, ever giving up on his quest to take the tradition of folk music here, there and everywhere, while also championing social justice. Then, there is the wonder of newcomer, Monica Barbaro, who nails the talent, passion and persona of Joan Baez with such sweet charisma, spunk and fire and a voice that could melt honey, but not Dylan's threadbare heart.
I hope A Complete Unknown ignites a new love for coffee shops, underground rock 'n' roll and folk rock and a sense of purpose and critical thinking.
Meanwhile, I've watched A Complete Unknown six times this week, and each time I pick up little nuances and details which sometimes enchant me, such as the duets with Joan Baez and Dylan's scenes with Woody Guthrie and sometimes annoy the hell out of me as a Dylanaphile. There is no doubt that director James Mangold and Tim have pulled off something rare and precious in an age which seems depressingly fake. A Complete Unknown has a raw, authentic charm. It's fun and exhilarating to jump back to the sixties and escape the 21st century and a world full of terrible film scripts, bad acting, green screens, too much violence and cruelty and a general air of misery.
Here's the thing about A Complete Unknown. The music is coruscating. It makes you want to time travel back to 1961. Tim is spookily spectacular as a physical and musical reincarnation of Bob Dylan. However, there is one serious flaw with the film and that is the script. Chalamet portrays Dylan as a one dimensional genius who doesn't really exist outside the music and the birth of creation.
In life, he is endlessly portrayed as a selfish asshole who quickly forgets who helped him, and he is callous and cruel and not present with the women in his life. The muse always comes first. I hate the way his relationships are portrayed, although the scenes where he duets with Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez are genuinely electrifying. Barbaro is an exploding supernova. I can't wait to see what she does in the coming years.
The story of Dylan's seminal relationship with Sylvie Russo, based on his first great love, Suze Rotolo, played by Elle Fanning, is portrayed as doomed, tragic and sad from the outset. I don't believe it. Although I do love the scene where they go to see Now Voyager, one of my all-time favourite films starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. Dylan nails what happens to Charlotte Vale and offers up a juicy clue about how to deal with fame. Just create other characters in the moment.
The suggestion the film puts across is that the kind of fame Dylan has attained is toxic (the scene in the cafe where a crazy fan pulls off his glasses and pushes him to the ground) and that he copes with it by being cold, mysterious, difficult and detached.
Behind the Scenes with Director James Mangold and Timothée Chalamet
Still, there is much to enjoy. Director James Mangold is at his most compelling when he focuses on recreating the buzz around the exploding folk and rock scene of the early sixties, set against the backdrop of the threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of JFK and racial segregation.
Chalamet spent five years preparing to play Bob Dylan, and this extraordinary zeal and perfectionism pay off with the music and the strong physical resemblance to Dylan. The clothes are great too, and chart Dylan's journey from wandering hobo to hipster rock star. Tim has metamorphosed into the young Dylan. However, he has forgotten to give his muse some humanity, more playfulness, more depth and less brat. The only glimpses of emotion and feeling happen when he parts from Sylvie (Elle Fanning) and at the very end when he strokes Woody's hair tenderly.
I wonder if Chalamet will ever be the same again? Maybe he will run away and join a carnival and start a rock 'n' roll band? He sings and plays every single song in the film, and he does it well. I wonder what Dylan thinks of his effort? He says he hasn't watched the film yet.
Even better, I hope the film inspires a renaissance in rock 'n' roll and folk rock and that a new poet bard might walk the earth and drive us wild with poetry, guitar wizardry, rebellion and musical mayhem and help to reverse the decline in live music venues.
We need a new mysterious minstrel for an age without heroes.
The Film A Complete Unknown is available to buy as a DVD, and it can be streamed on Amazon, Disney+ and other outlets.
Watch Now Voyager, Starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Gladys Cooper. Buy a Blu-ray edition or DVD from The Criterion Collection to treasure forever, or stream the film on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Copyright Alison Jane Reid/ The Luminaries Magazine July 2025. All Rights Reserved. No Copying or Usage in Any Format including Ai.
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