Exploring Dylan’s Enigmatic Journey

A Review of A Complete Unknown and Dont Look Back

By Michael Jacobsohn

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN movie poster.

Recently, I saw A Complete Unknown at the AMC multiplex theater on 19th Street and Broadway. The matinee ticket price of $13 was welcoming, and it was a joy to watch the film in their spacious theater.

I enjoyed the two-hour and 20-minute film that flashes back to the early 1960s. The three-act narrative sketches the first five years of Bob Dylan’s career, both on and off the concert stage. Act One takes place in 1960 when Dylan arrives in New York City from Minnesota. He soon meets Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger who recognize his musical ingenuity. Albert Grossman becomes his manager and secures him a recording contract. Initially, Columbia Records insists that Dylan record mostly cover tunes, which stifles his early LPs.

Act Two unleashes an avalanche of Dylan’s original recordings. Timothée Chalamet, who portrays Dylan, does a marvelous job performing these songs throughout the movie, with his looks and mannerisms convincingly capturing Dylan’s essence. The film also explores Dylan’s challenging love affairs. His taxing romances are on display, initially with Sylvie Russo who is a fictionalized character based on Suze Rotolo, Dylan’s real-life girlfriend in the early 1960s. Sylvie was a significant influence on his early songwriting career. Then there’s Joan Baez, portrayed by Monica Barbaro, depicted as both Dylan’s business partner and lover. His lack of candor leads to an on-and-off relationship with Sylvie whose rejection perplexes Dylan throughout the movie. Baez’s involvement with Dylan is marked by his rising fame.

Act Three focuses on Dylan’s revolt against the traditional folk music scene. He and Sylvie motorcycle to the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. After being lauded by Pete Seeger for years, Dylan does the unthinkable: insisting on electrifying his sound. He is labeled “Judas” by an audience member. Sylvie confronts Dylan with her continued unhappiness and abandons him at the festival. His initial acoustic performance with Baez highlights the disconnect between them. Billed as the final act at the festival, Dylan and his backup electric band perform Maggie’s Farm, an anthem that rejects the established folk music scene. The performance leads to a near-riot. The concluding shot shows Dylan motorcycling solo towards an uncharted horizon. The film’s title, A Complete Unknown, reflects Dylan’s desire to avoid categorization and remain enigmatic, like a rolling stone.

DONT LOOK BACK movie poster.

Where A Complete Unknown takes creative liberty with Dylan’s first five years in New York City, resulting with some of his life fudged and embellished, the 1967 D.A. Pennebaker documentary Dont Look Back is an unvarnished recoding of Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of Britain. I saw this documentary when it opened at the Bleecker Street Cinema. Unfortunately, the art house cinema closed in the 1990s. You can now view this revealing documentary on the Criterion streaming channel.

In the 1960s, Pennebaker was at the forefront of using portable 16mm film cameras and sound equipment, practicing cinéma vérité. Albert Grossman, Dylan’s manager, approached him about documenting Dylan’s 1965 tour of Britain. The film starts with a memorable title sequence featuring Dylan holding cue cards in an alley, accompanied by Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth. The documentary presents a confident and sometimes arrogant portrait of Dylan, showcasing his performances and interactions with fans, journalists, and fellow musicians like Joan Baez and Donovan. The tour highlighted Dylan’s Beatles-like fame, with cheering crowds of young supporters throughout.

The documentary features several of Dylan’s iconic songs, including Subterranean Homesick Blues, The Times They Are A-Changin’, and It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue. The concert performances are brief, and Baez and Donovan have limited screen time.

The depiction of Dylan is not always flattering. There are sequences where he faces reporters with disdain, answering their queries evasively. One lengthy sequence pits Dylan against a British journalist who is overwhelmed by the musician’s confrontational and conspiratorial attitude towards the media. Baez, who at that time had more stardom, is portrayed as a background figure. Dylan’s refusal to share the stage with her on the tour contributed to their breakup.

A Complete Unknown takes some artistic liberties for dramatic effect. Director James Mangold adapted the film from Elijah Wald’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric!. Mangold met with Dylan to discuss aspects of the biopic, allowing Dylan to share his version of events and introduce younger audiences to his music. The film had a substantial budget, estimated at $50-70 million, and I suspect a considerable amount was spent on licensing Dylan’s music.

As a viewer who is not an expert on Dylan and his music, I learned a lot about his career from A Complete Unknown. The film showcases Dylan’s iconic early compositions, features superb performances from the lead and supporting actors, and Mangold’s depiction of 1960s New York adds to its enjoyment. No matter what film I watched, I can not help but marvel at how Dylan insists on being an unabashed renegade.

Michael Jacobsohn is an independent New York filmmaker. His recently completed a documentary on the Cornelia Street Cafe, which will premiere in the first week of April at the New Plaza Cinema. He also curates a bi-monthly screening of short films by New York filmmakers at New Plaza Cinema.

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