A Complete Unknown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was boring. But, it seems Dylan was and is boring. I am not into his music, tried to get into it, but just not my style. I think Eric Clapton is more my style.

Dylan is a genius. You probably don't get it

I might not get it. I am a classically trained pianist and have played Chopin, Between, etc. the hardest pieces in addition to studying composition, harmony, accompaniment, you name it.
I think his lyrics are great, I just don't like the wailing sounds of the voice.

DP - interesting….

Why is Eric Clapton more your style as a classically trained pianist? He was equally prolific as a writer but did you like his guitar playing better ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We really enjoyed the biopic on Bob Dylan starring Timothy Chalamet.

It is not perfect: Timothy’s portrayal of Bob Dylan remained enigmatic and bit superficial throughout. Did not explore why he changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan in 1962 or why he seemingly ghosted his Jewish family in Minnesota.

But it is an evocative period piece that transported us to 1960s New York/ Greenwich Village. Timothy’s singing improved as the movie went on while Monica Barbaro who played Joan Baez sang her folk classics from that era beautifully.

Edward Norton as Pete Seeger was perfect. Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s former girlfriend in real life were all well cast.

I am with the 95% of audience who gave it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was a good movie (retro NY scenes were great) - but it totally played to Bob Dylan the enigma and we did not get to see much below the surface of that image …

[Anonymous]

I wonder if Dylan's people had some of the more personal scenes redacted. There was so much singing and so little dialogue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if Dylan's people had some of the more personal scenes redacted. There was so much singing and so little dialogue.

Maybe so.

Also they mentioned he won the Nobel prize for literature at the end but not that he became a born again Christian in the 70s and 80s and that deeply influenced his music. He was mocked and booed as much for that as his journey from folk to rock music.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen “I'm Not There”a 2007 Todd Haynes film inspired by Bob Dylan?

A person who knows a lot about films recommended it to me - apparently it has six actors depicting different facets of Dylan's public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw.

It is supposedly abstract/ arty but delves deeper into Dylan’s psyche than A Complete Unknown.

[Anonymous]

I dont know anything about Dylan but I loved It.

[Anonymous]

I wanted the movie to keep going. I get it was about a pivotal moment but Dylan is a genius and I wanted to see more. It was that good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really enjoyed the biopic on Bob Dylan starring Timothy Chalamet.

It is not perfect: Timothy’s portrayal of Bob Dylan remained enigmatic and bit superficial throughout. Did not explore why he changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan in 1962 or why he seemingly ghosted his Jewish family in Minnesota.

But it is an evocative period piece that transported us to 1960s New York/ Greenwich Village. Timothy’s singing improved as the movie went on while Monica Barbaro who played Joan Baez sang her folk classics from that era beautifully.

Edward Norton as Pete Seeger was perfect. Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s former girlfriend in real life were all well cast.

I am with the 95% of audience who gave it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was a good movie (retro NY scenes were great) - but it totally played to Bob Dylan the enigma and we did not get to see much below the surface of that image …

Maybe that was the point. If so, it was well done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really enjoyed the biopic on Bob Dylan starring Timothy Chalamet.

It is not perfect: Timothy’s portrayal of Bob Dylan remained enigmatic and bit superficial throughout. Did not explore why he changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan in 1962 or why he seemingly ghosted his Jewish family in Minnesota.

But it is an evocative period piece that transported us to 1960s New York/ Greenwich Village. Timothy’s singing improved as the movie went on while Monica Barbaro who played Joan Baez sang her folk classics from that era beautifully.

Edward Norton as Pete Seeger was perfect. Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s former girlfriend in real life were all well cast.

I am with the 95% of audience who gave it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was a good movie (retro NY scenes were great) - but it totally played to Bob Dylan the enigma and we did not get to see much below the surface of that image …

Maybe that was the point. If so, it was well done.

I’m a fan of BD’s music and work but did not feel satisfied by the movie overplaying the enigma aspect … even the transition to rock from folk came off as motivated by impulsive contrariness rather than conscious artistic choice … and I would have appreciated more insight into why he ghosted his Jewish Minnesota family and changed his name to Anglo sounding name. I just felt like they overdid the cool aura and underdid the human part of BD.

But liked it and appreciated how Timothy sang and played his music himself. The music was great.

Also, Ed Norton was amazing as PS - captured both the artist and human.

[Anonymous]

I loved it - I wasn't looking for insight into Dylan's psyche (although that too would be interesting) but as a snapshot of the historical moment and his role in it, I thought it worked well. And phenomenal performances from Chalemet and Ed Norton in particular.

[Anonymous]

Dylan and Kazuo Ishiguro were the last deserving Nobel Prize winners in Literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone seen “I'm Not There”a 2007 Todd Haynes film inspired by Bob Dylan?

A person who knows a lot about films recommended it to me - apparently it has six actors depicting different facets of Dylan's public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw.

It is supposedly abstract/ arty but delves deeper into Dylan’s psyche than A Complete Unknown.

It is nothing like A Complete Unknown. It’s VERY abstract and doesn’t use Dylan’s name (or Joan Biaz etc). It felt a little “Waiting for Guffman” to me aka a parody vs a tribute but it was interesting.

[Anonymous]

Do we think Bob Dylan will ever be relevant to a new generation of listeners? My teenaged kids don't understand the appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really enjoyed the biopic on Bob Dylan starring Timothy Chalamet.

It is not perfect: Timothy’s portrayal of Bob Dylan remained enigmatic and bit superficial throughout. Did not explore why he changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan in 1962 or why he seemingly ghosted his Jewish family in Minnesota.

But it is an evocative period piece that transported us to 1960s New York/ Greenwich Village. Timothy’s singing improved as the movie went on while Monica Barbaro who played Joan Baez sang her folk classics from that era beautifully.

Edward Norton as Pete Seeger was perfect. Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie and Elle Fanning as Dylan’s former girlfriend in real life were all well cast.

I am with the 95% of audience who gave it a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was a good movie (retro NY scenes were great) - but it totally played to Bob Dylan the enigma and we did not get to see much below the surface of that image …

Maybe that was the point. If so, it was well done.

I’m a fan of BD’s music and work but did not feel satisfied by the movie overplaying the enigma aspect … even the transition to rock from folk came off as motivated by impulsive contrariness rather than conscious artistic choice … and I would have appreciated more insight into why he ghosted his Jewish Minnesota family and changed his name to Anglo sounding name. I just felt like they overdid the cool aura and underdid the human part of BD.

But liked it and appreciated how Timothy sang and played his music himself. The music was great.

Also, Ed Norton was amazing as PS - captured both the artist and human.

SPOILER ALERT!!
You absolutely nailed it. I was trying to figure out why I did not like the movie. I had nothing vested in the main character, at all. He wrote all these fantastic lyrics but is dead in personality? No motive, no growth other than being dead panned? And yes, I did get why he went to the blonde girlfriend, because he was rejected by Joan, but I am to believe he is upset they are not accepting his new music, but I never even know why he is into the new genre?
The only character I did care about was the blonde girlfriend.

[Anonymous]

How was Chalamet’s singing?