A Complete Unknown (2024)

December 26, 2024 5:52 PM

A 20-year-old Bob Dylan comes to New York, meets interesting people, starts his career, is a jerk, writes good songs, has to decide if he's going to stick with the traditional folk music or play an electric guitar at a big folk festival, gets advice from Johnny Cash, smokes a lot of cigarettes, rides his motorcycle, looks cool.
posted by The corpse in the library (10 comments total)

I wouldn't say it's a deep movie, but everyone is pretty to look at, and the costumes and sets are great. I appreciate that Chalamet for the most part didn't do a Dylan impersonation. I know his music from this era well and enjoyed the covers; the hardcore Baez fan I saw it was with was less pleased with the casting and performing for that character. I recommend seeing it in a theater, not at home, if you're like me and want to see all the coffee cups and restaurant signs. and for the sound.

Bechedel Test passed: ha ha ha ha ha no.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:56 PM on December 26 [3 favorites]

I wouldn't say it's a deep movie,

Completely agree. While we all enjoyed it well enough, I would have liked at least some discussion with his fellow songwriters about the process. What did Joan say back when he dissed her songs? Why did Johnny Cash think Bobby should go back onstage? Dylan was constantly seen with a guitar and notebook and inspirational items but never any discussion of why some events and people inspired him while others didn't. There are a few lines that seem like they might go there but they never did IMO. Maybe I want too much detail but without the detail, it verged awfully close to just being a series of songs.
posted by beaning at 7:00 PM on December 26 [3 favorites]

The set design and clothing for NYC in the 60s was great tho.
posted by beaning at 7:01 PM on December 26 [1 favorite]

I really liked it! I am confused by the reviews that mention that the movie doesn’t help explain Dylan as a person or an artist. That seems absurd to me. The man is an enigma, has always done his best to contradict himself and resist classification. That the movie embraces his contrarian personality and aversion to revealing himself beyond his music made it seem more authentic to me. I think they did a great job of showing the people, places and events that were part of his world when he was creating some of the greatest American songs ever written. Also - I liked the actor playing Joan Baez, I thought Ed Norton was perfect as Pete Seeger, and I had no idea Alan Lomax was such a bastard. Timothy Chalamet is going to be nominated for an Oscar and he deserves it.
posted by pjsky at 7:29 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]

Yeah, the Pete Seeger was great. He had his speaking style down pat. (My very first memory is at a Pete Seeger concert, with him singing “It’s a small world after all.”)
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:43 PM on December 26

Is it true that the shout of “Judas” has shifted location?
posted by gnuhavenpier at 11:30 PM on December 26

Pretty sure Dylan was called Judas while on tour in England the following year. Manchester 1966.
posted by pjsky at 8:21 AM on December 27 [3 favorites]

I just heard a rumour that it had been shifted to the Newport festival. Glad to hear it if that’s not true
posted by gnuhavenpier at 1:49 PM on December 27

The film has someone at a folk fest shouting Judas at him and the film does not go to England.
posted by beaning at 3:21 PM on December 27

According to this article in Entertainment Weekly, they mashed up the England and Newport concerts for the movie.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:36 PM on December 27