"A Complete Unknown" is a powerful work that captures Dylan's younger days in a straightforward way. *Note! Contains spoilers.

*Please note that this article contains spoilers about the ending of the story, so please be careful if you have not seen the movie.

Bob Dylan is well known among rock fans, but he became even more widely known as the first singer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. A biographical film based on him, who has a career spanning more than 60 years and continues to make history, "A Complete Unknown" (24) is finally coming to theaters. It has been nominated for eight categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is expected to win.

This film focuses on Dylan in his younger days in the early 1960s. Inspired by Woody Guthrie, Dylan came to New York with an acoustic guitar, aiming to become a folk singer. His talent was discovered and he rose to prominence, making his record debut and becoming an American charismatic figure. However, the world of popular music always demands a stable hit. The same goes for fans who love folk music. Feeling uneasy, he wanted a change, so he picked up an electric guitar instead of an acoustic one and faced the rough waves of the times.

Many films about Dylan have been made so far, mainly documentaries, but most of them have focused on this period. It was a time of civil rights, the assassination of JFK, and the Vietnam War. In an unpredictable and unsettling atmosphere, Dylan's presence as a voice for his generation was undeniable. However, even though he was young, Dylan himself looked coolly at the society and the frenzy that surrounded him. I would like to talk about the appeal of this film as a biographical drama that captures such a figure.

"A COMPLETE UNKNOWN" ©2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Index

• The popular actor who embodied Dylan's "youth" with a realistic performance
• The drama is based on the relationship between these two great folk musicians.
• [Spoiler Alert!] What it means to refuse a fork at a fork festival

The popular actor who embodied Dylan's "youth" with a realistic performance

There is another biographical film about Dylan's life, " I'm Not There " (2007), but while that was an experimental and tricky film that featured multiple Dylan characters, this film follows the young Dylan's path straightforwardly. Director James Mangold, like his representative work, the Johnny Cash biographical drama " Walk the Line " (2005), scoops up a certain period of the protagonist's life and elevates it into a dense drama. Cash also plays a major role in this film as one of the few people who understood Dylan.

Dylan was discovered by Pete Seeger, a popular folk singer of the time, and embarked on the path to success. He became close with Joan Baez, who was also a passionate folk singer, and they worked together, becoming the darling of the era. However, he also lost some things, such as his love affair with the young female activist Sylvie Russo. These are all familiar episodes to Dylan fans, but from a dramatic perspective, the excitement and sadness that are characteristic of adolescence are mixed together in high concentrations.

Timothée Chalamet, who played Dylan, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and it's no surprise that he gave such a good performance. Not only did he look like Dylan back then, but he also practiced guitar and harmonica for five years and studied Dylan's vocal style to imitate his singing voice. In the concert scene at Carnegie Hall, the staff initially planned to overlay a pre-recorded sound, but at Chalamet's insistence, the live performance of Dylan was imprinted on the screen.

The drama is based on the relationship between these two great folk musicians.