For those, like myself, who were not paying that much attention to folk music in the early 60s, the Bob Dylan I came to know was the Bob who was already electric, rock and roll Bob from 1965 on. I did not have his earliest albums, in fact I began with Blonde on Blonde, but that forced me to go back and pay attention to what he had done before, and what he kept doing afterwards— including country music (Nashville Skyline), Christian music (Slow Train Comin’), and many, many great albums along the way including Blood on the Tracks, Time Out of Mind, and so much more. Bob Dylan is still producing music in his 80s, including his recent Ode to John Kennedy. No question he was the greatest folk/rock music poet song writer of my lifetime, and no wonder he won the Nobel Peace Prize, not to mention many Grammys etc. Bob himself has chimed in and commended Timothy’s portrayal, and added the following “”A Complete Unknown” is based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book, “Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties,” which Dylan called “a fantastic retelling of events from the early ’60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport,”
The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes long and has a bit of rough language, but the portrayal of Bob Dylan by Timothy Chalamet is Oscar worthy, including his amazing ability to sing Bob’s early songs with the same verve and intonation as Bob himself. Equally great is Ed Norton as Pete Seeger, and Elle Fanning as Sylvia, Bob’s first girlfriend once he became a musician. The movie itself is quite nuanced, showing a Bob Dylan uncomfortable with fame and fans flocking to him, when what really mattered to him was writing and playing the music, and hoping it struck a chord. His somewhat problematic relationship with Joan Baez is well presented, not least the fact that Joan genuinely fell in love with Bob, but it was not entirely reciprocated.
The movie only covers 1961-65 ending with the debacle at Newport when Bob decided to upset the folkies by playing electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. What Bob didn’t fully understand was that the folk music was about freedom and promoting good causes like liberty and justice for all, because Bob came late to the party, and various people wanted to use him and his songs as anthems that could produce change. Bob, first and last, was all about the music, and creating ever more new music.
I hope this film gets some nods for best picture of the year, as it certainly deserves it.
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