Through
Bob
Dylan’s
music,
lyrics,
and
Timothée
Chalamet’s
superb
acting,
we
feel
we
have
rubbed
shoulders
with
greatness,
even
when
it
is
full
of
flaws,
self-doubts,
warts
and
all,
observes
Aseem
Chhabra.
Bob
Dylan
is
one
of
the
most
complex
artists
of
our
times.
There
are
so
many
personas
to
the
Nobel
Prize
winning
artist
that
in
2007,
Director
Todd
Haynes
experimented
with
the
idea
of
hiring
six
actors,
including
Christian
Bale,
Cate
Blanchett,
Richard
Gere
and
Heath
Ledger
and
have
each
of
them
portray
one
facet
of
Dylan’s
life
and
work.
That
film,
I’m
Not
There,
was
a
critical
success,
although
I
am
not
sure
how
much
of
it
connected
with
the
audience.
The
new
Dylan
film,
A
Complete
Unknown,
is
equally
ambitious,
and
also
very
entertaining,
although
Director
James
Mangold
(Copland,
Girl,
Interrupted)
restricts
the
musician’s
life
story
to
the
first
four
years
of
his
career,
up
to
a
key
point
when
the
singer
made
the
controversial
(some
would
say
unpopular)
decision
to
move
beyond
just
being
engaged
in
folk
music.
Mangold
also
directed
another
wonderful
biopic
of
a
musician,
Walk
The
Line
(2005),
about
Johnny
Cash
and
his
second
wife
June
Carter.
That
film
won
Reese
Witherspoon
an
Oscar
in
the
Best
Actress
category.
A
Complete
Unknown
comes
to
India
after
receiving
eight
Oscar
nominations,
a
celebrated
German
premiere
in
the
Special
Gala
section
at
the
Berlinale
and
a
Screen
Actors
Guild
Award
presented
to
Timothée
Chalamet
for
Outstanding
Performance
by
a
Male
Actor
in
a
Leading
Role.
The
SAG
Awards
have
opened
up
possibilities
for
Chalamet
in
this
weekend
leading
to
the
Academy
Award
ceremony
on
March
2
(that
will
be
early
March
3
morning
in
India).
Although
the
Oscar
voting
was
closed
by
the
time
of
the
SAG
ceremony,
the
award
and
Chalamet’s
acceptance
speech
may
indicate
that
the
needle
has
slightly
moved
in
his
favour.
With
two
Oscar
nominations
(the
first
being
for
Call
Me
by
Your
Name),
the
29-year-old
actor
talked
about
spending
five
years
of
his
life
learning
to
play
the
guitar,
sing
in
Dylan’s
voice,
and
capture
every
gesture,
nuance
and
twitches
of
the
musician.
The
speech
earned
a
lot
of
love
from
his
fellow
actors
who
are
the
largest
voting
block
for
the
Academy
Awards.
Mangold’s
biopic
is
based
on
a
script
he
co-wrote
with
Martin
Scorsese’s
frequent
collaborator
Jay
Cocks
(The
Age
of
Innocence,
Gangs
of
New
York,
Silence).
The
script
itself
is
based
on
a
book
by
writer
and
musician
Elijah
Wald.
The
title
Dylan
Goes
Electric!:
Newport,
Seegar,
Dylan
and
the
Night
That
Split
the
Sixties,
could
also
be
the
13
words
elevator
pitch
for
the
film.
Mangold
and
Cocks’
screenplay
is
nominated
for
an
Academy
Award
in
the
Best
Adapted
Screenplay
category.
The
film
begins
in
1961
when
a
19-year-old
Dylan
hitchhikes
to
Manhattan
wearing
a
corduroy
hat,
a
scruffy
woolen
scarf
wrapped
around
his
neck
and
gloves
knitted
from
the
same
brown
wool,
and
blue
jeans.
He
is
carrying
a
backpack
and
a
guitar
case.
Those
are
all
of
his
worldly
possessions.
He
is
looking
for
musician
Woodie
Guthrie
(Scoot
McNairy).
When
he
learns
that
his
idol
is
hospitalised
with
Huntington’s
disease
in
Morris
Plains,
New
Jersey,
Dylan
goes
to
the
hospital
where
he
finds
a
very
sick
Guthrie
with
his
friend
folk
singer
Pete
Seegar
(a
fine
and
deservedly
Oscar
nominated
performance
by
Edward
Norton).
Upon
Guthrie’s
request
(the
musician
cannot
speak),
Dylan
sings
Song
to
Woody,
which
he
had
specifically
written
for
the
ailing
musician.
And
as
he
strums
the
guitar
and
sings
Hey,
hey
Woody
Guthrie,
I
Wrote
You
This
Song,
the
energy
shifts
in
the
dreary
hospital
room.
Most
importantly,
Seeger
is
blown
away
by
this
young
unknown
musician’s
talent.
The
film
tells
us
Seeger
had
a
lot
to
do
with
Dylan’s
sudden
rise
in
career,
until
their
falling
apart
over
what
future
musical
direction
the
singer
should
take.
Along
the
way
Dylan,
a
quiet
man
who
barely
speaks
sentences
with
four
or
five
words,
meets
a
range
of
people
—
rising
artists
like
Johnny
Cash,
who
became
his
good
friend
and
two
women,
Sylvie
Russo
(Elle
Fanning
playing
Dylan’s
girlfriend,
Suze
Rotolo,
who
appeared
with
the
artist
on
the
cover
of
his
second
album
The
Freewheelin’
Bob
Dylan)
and
Joan
Baez
(Monica
Barbaro,
nominated
for
the
Best
Supporting
Actress
trophy),
who
was
already
established
as
a
singer
when
she
first
heard
Dylan
in
a
club
in
downtown
Manhattan.
Dylan
kept
going
back
to
Russo,
even
as
there
were
major
strains
and
heartbreak
in
their
love
life.
There
were
bigger
issues
with
Baez,
who
was
senior
to
Dylan,
but
was
moved
and
inspired
by
his
lyrics.
Perhaps
because
he
was
young
and
naïve,
Dylan
gave
Baez
the
rights
to
make
a
cover
version
of
what
would
become
his
best-known
song,
Blowin’
In
The
Wind,
even
before
he
actually
sang
it
himself.
Dylan
and
Baez’s
relationship
was
full
on
drama.
They
were
partners
and
lovers
but
also
collaborated
and
performed
together.
Dylan
described
her
voice
as
‘maybe
too
beautiful’.
Even
when
things
were
tough
between
them
and
they
could
not
stand
each
other’s
presence,
the
two
still
sang
together,
such
as
during
the
Newport
Folk
Festival.
In
the
film,
as
Dylan
walks
on
the
stage
Baez
says
to
him,
‘I
picked
something
appropriate.’
‘Appropriate?’
Dylan
asks
in
a
sarcastic
tone.
Baez
responds
by
saying,
‘Just
f***
off
and
sing.’
Then
the
two
perform
Dylan’s
song
It
Ain’t
Me
Babe.
They
are
so
good
and
in
synch
with
each
other.
No
one
can
read
that
things
are
going
rough
between
them.
In
a
2023
documentary, I
Am
A
Noise that
premiered
at
the
Berlinale,
Baez
spoke
about
how
Dylan
broke
her
heart.
‘I
was
just
stoned
on
that
talent,’
she
added.
In
1975,
Baez
wrote
the
song
Diamonds
&
Rust
(also
the
title
of
her
album),
which
clearly
spoke
of
her
and
Dylan’s
relationship.
Mangold’s
film
also
examines
what
sudden
fame
can
mean
for
a
young
man
born
in
Duluth,
Minnesota,
who
travels
all
the
way
to
New
York
City
to
start
a
music
career.
In
one
of
the
most
moving
and
honest
moments
in
the
film,
Dylan
speaks
to
Russo
about
how
everyone
wants
a
piece
of
his
success.
He
says
he
feels
annoyed
when
people
ask
him
where
his
songs
come
from.
‘But
when
you
watch
their
faces,’
he
says,
‘they
are
not
asking
where
the
song
comes
from.
They
are
asking
why
the
song
didn’t
come
to
them.’
Two
hours
and
21
minutes
later,
as
the
credits
role,
we
still
do
not
have
a
complete
understanding
of
the
enigma
called
Bob
Dylan.
I
guess
no
one
will
ever
know
the
man
fully.
But
in
the
universe
that
Mangold
creates,
Dylan
is
not
completely
unknown
to
us
anymore.
Through
his
music,
lyrics,
and
Chalamet’s
superb
acting,
we
feel
we
have
rubbed
shoulders
with
greatness,
even
when
it
is
full
of
flaws,
self-doubts,
warts
and
all.
A
Complete
Unknown Review
Rediff
Rating:
