RUTHFULLY YOURS

The new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, is a film distinguished by extraordinary performances. Edward Norton shines as folk-singer Pete Seeger. Elle Fanning enlivens the role of Sylvie Russo, a character based on Dylan’s actual partner at the time, Suze Rotolo. And then there’s Timothée Chalamet whose depiction of the young Dylan at times borders on the miraculous.

Directed by James Mangold, A Complete Unknown is based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book, Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties. It focusses on Dylan’s early career in the 1960s, from the moment he arrives in New York City as a 19-year-old to his eventual rise to folk stardom and beyond.

The film’s narrative is divided into two parts. In the first we follow Dylan from his arrival in Greenwich Village in 1961 as he tries to work his way into the New York folk scene. This period culminates in the release of his second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963 and, with it, stardom.

The second chapter follows Dylan’s departure from the folk scene – its music, ideology and entourage – and the recording of his sixth album, Highway 61 Revisited, in 1965. Parallel to his prodigious songwriting, this self-styled inscrutable vagabond weaves a love triangle with Russo and Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro.

Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan moves effortlessly from the naïve newcomer to the older, conflicted artist and sorrowful lover. Much of the film is shot in close-up, and the most compelling scenes involve Chalamet listening rather than speaking. Norton’s Seegar is the personification of the social-justice arm of the folk scene. What Dylan has in charisma, Seegar has in piety. It’s Seeger’s folk-musical sanctimony that Dylan kicks back at. And when Dylan turns electric in defiance of Seeger, the folksy audience turns into a mob.

During the brief period covered by A Complete Unknown, Dylan wrote songs about the end of love affairs: ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’, ‘One Too Many Mornings’, ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, and others. A Complete Unknown juxtaposes his emotional withdrawal from Russo and Baez with his rejection of the acoustic and oh-so-worthy folk scene. It’s hard not to conclude that ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ is about more than an unsuitable life partner.

A Complete Unknown is much more than a straight-forward biopic. It also captures something of the essence of America in the 1960s, a cultural moment when ‘the land of the free’ appealed to many beyond its borders.

Dylan remains among the most American of songwriters. Like Woody Guthrie before him, he’s a portal into the country. Through Dylan’s story, we gain a sense of the importance of individual freedom. The freedom, in this case, of an artist to refuse to be politically confined or pigeonholed, either by the folk scene or leftist politics.

There is a great beauty to A Complete Unknown. One that arises from its consummate direction, the shimmering performances of its stars and, above all, Bob Dylan’s songs.

Michael Crowley is an author and dramatist. Visit his website here.