- Directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown follows Bob Dylan’s rise as a folk music icon during the 1960s.
- Chalamet is joined by Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.
- A Complete Unknown release date: January 23rd, 2025.
How many roads must Timothée Chalamet walk down before you call him Bob Dylan? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the first full-length trailer for A Complete Unknown.
Directed by James Mangold, the upcoming biopic will focus on Dylan’s meteoric rise to fame in the early 1960s to the folk musician’s controversial switch to electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
On the surface, it seems like a fairly standard music biopic — Chalamet certainly seems to have the hair and voice down pat — but I have faith in Mangold. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny notwithstanding, he’s proven himself to be a pretty solid director, especially when it comes to biographical films. Walk the Line, his Johnny Cash biopic, is still one of the greatest entries in this sub-genre; while Ford V Ferrari is probably the greatest film of his career.
Sure, Dylan might not be portrayed as a CGI monkey, but I have faith that Mangold knows how to explore the inner workings of his subject instead of turning it into “Clap At The Reference” Boomer bait.
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The 1960s were the peak of Dylan’s career, and the period covered by the movie involves one of the most absurd runs in quality for any musician ever.
From 1962 to 1965, he released six albums including The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, and Highway 61 Revisited which, individually, would be the height of another artist’s career.
The trailer also gave us a preview of Elle Fanning as Dylan’s girlfriend, Sylvie Russo, along with Monica Barbaro as fellow folk music icon Joan Baez, along with Boyd Holbrook as the Man in Black himself: Johnny Cash.
If Mangold’s take on Dylan sounds a bit too square for you, this isn’t the first biopic to focus on him. Todd Haynes’ unconventional I’m Not There, which features multiple actors portraying Dylan at various stages of his career, is still worth a watch — especially for Cate Blanchett’s part.
A Complete Unknown hits Australian cinemas on January 23rd, 2025 — you can watch the trailer above.
