A COMPLETE UNKNOWN directed by James Mangold (USA, 2024)
I went to see this with a long-time Bob Dylan fan. Although he praised Timothee Chamalet’s acting and Edward Norton’s star turn as nerdy Peter Seeger, he hated the movie. I loved it. Why the difference of opinion?
I think for my friend no film can ever do the real Dylan (whoever that may be) justice. In this he is correct but that doesn’t make this a bad film.
‘A Complete Unknown’ is a good title because it is about an artist who, despite all the books, articles, films and documentaries remains a man of mystery. As Todd Hayne’s 2007 film ‘I’m Not There’ illustrates by having six different actors play Dylan, he is many different people at the same time. He is who you want him to be.
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The opening shot of this documentary is of a magician in a silent movie manipulating film to create a disappearing act. This illusionist sets the scene for a movie in which not all is as it seems.
“It’s pretty obvious that contemporary music reflects contemporary life. And vice versa” wrote Tony Hall in Record Mirror in 1966. What is taken for granted now needed to be spelled out then.
“Kill yr idols” advocated Sonic Youth back in the day, an extreme strategy that is not actually an invitation to murder but a warning against putting faith in heroes. Bob Dylan meant something similar when he sang (in Subterranean Homesick Blues) “Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters”.
This book was written when Jim Morrison, Mama Cass, Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones were still alive and The Beatles were still together.
