A Complete Unknown
)
)
)
"I'm not sure they wanna hear what I wanna play"
Overview
From his beginnings in the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the early 1960s, A Complete Unknown explores a pivotal time in the life of one of America's most enigmatic music legends. 19-year-old Minnesotan Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York City with a guitar and a dream, on a quest to meet his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). He impresses Guthrie and fellow folk icon Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) enough to be welcomed into the fold and experiences a meteoric rise to fame thanks to capturing the revolutionary zeitgeist of the era, but struggles with the constraints of industry and audience expectations. A collaboration with fellow musician Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) develops into a romantic affair that further jeopardises Dylan's rocky relationship with his girlfriend, and his efforts to regain artistic freedom alienate him from the folk community—culminating in his groundbreaking and controversial electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
“A Complete Unknown pushes against traditional Dylan worship and cuts a path toward something far more beautiful, flawed, and human.”
“Chalamet gives an Oscar-worthy performance in one of the best films of 2024”
“Mangold has crafted the definitive portrait of this era and the poetic, aspiring, rebellious kid who refused to be pigeonholed, held down and defined.”
Why You Should See This Film
Nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, A Complete Unknown features an incredible ensemble cast supporting a star turn from Chalamet, channeling the vulnerability and awkwardness underneath the superstar's persona. It's no easy task to tell the life story of someone who has rewritten their own many times over, so director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Ford vs Ferrari) wisely focuses on the period between Dylan's arrival in NYC and the pivotal moment he "went electric", exploring along the way how figures such as Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez shaped his career. Made with love but never descending into Dylan worship, A Complete Unknown will satisfy diehard Dylan fanatics and casuals alike.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)