As I write this, the dulcet tones of Bob Dylan are blasting in our cottage in Ballarat as we celebrate his latest biopic A Complete Unknown which we saw as a preview at the beautiful Regent Theatre last night.
I think Lynda’s been playing the albums chronologically and is up to Blonde on Blonde. Only fifty to go!
In 1961, a twenty-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York’s Greenwich Village living virtually as a hobo. He has a small pack with a change of clothes and a guitar.
He seeks out his hero Woody Guthrie who is critically ill in a New Jersey hospital where he also meets the godfather of folk music, Pete Seeger.
Seeger, a generous and kind man is the conduit to the burgeoning folk scene and Dylan quickly becomes someone of note and has appeal to record companies. His reputation quickly grows and suddenly he is thrust into the limelight alongside the Madonna of folk music, Joan Baez.
The film starts in 1961 and ends in 1965 at the notorious performance Dylan gives at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he goes ‘electric’.
What struck me most and is examined very well in the film is:
- The tumultuous relationships with artist Suze Rotolo and Joan Baez. It’s Suze who is immortalised on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
- What comes as no surprise, but is captured quite well, is the self-belief and unflinching determination to do things his way. He was always going to upset the folk community and Pete Seeger but didn’t care. He was on a journey and couldn’t be stopped.
- The skill of the actors was exceptional. Timothee Chalamet (Dylan), Edward Norton (Seeger) and Monica Barbaro (Baez) all play their instruments and sing superbly.
- You can clearly see the ‘time’s a changing’ with the Cuban missile crisis and JFK’s assassination happening in the background.
- At the time, unknown session guitarist Al Kooper turns up to the Highway 61 recording sessions hoping to get a gig. They already have one in Mike Bloomfield so Kooper packs up his guitar then, just before they start recording, he jumps on the Hammond organ, an instrument he’s never played before. One, two, three, four and he is suddenly playing the opening chords to one of the twentieth century’s greatest songs, Like a Rolling Stone.
You can watch and read as much about Dylan as you like but I’ve now come to the realisation that it’s not worth the trouble. He is intensely private and you have to admire him for that.
I have read stories from his six children who adore him and are grateful that he ensured anonymity for them as best he could. He has been a loving and caring dad which goes against the grain of what we’ve seen as fans which is belligerent and grumpy a lot of the time.
The music in this film comes from a very rich period in Dylan’s career and it’s hard to believe he was in his early twenties. The soundtrack will have you tapping your feet and admiring the brilliance of his songwriting.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen an audience applaud at the end of a film and this was the case last night.
If you’re sick of watching your kids and grandkids on a steady diet of Tik Tok and Australian Idol, now’s your chance to point them in the direction of greatness!
Tell the kids they are going to see a Timothee Chalamet film because apparently he’s hot property with the ‘young uns’, then indoctrinate them with some timeless music!
Dylan has been touring non-stop since 1998, temporarily halted by Covid, but is still going at eighty-three years of age.
If you’re a Dylan fan I doubt whether you’ll garner anything new from A Complete Unknown, but gee it’s fun. The boundless creativity and change in the time, the freedom and the incredible music are captured here in this terrific film. 9/10
***
Another preview we went to see was The Brutalist. I can’t remember the last time I felt so angry at having put myself through a movie as bad as this.
Somehow nominated for Golden Globes and, I assume, Oscars, this is four hours I’ll never get back. Three and a half hours plus intermission for zero outcome, poor narrative, average acting, zero purpose, self-indulgent, overblown rubbish.
This was supposed to be a story of Jewish migration to New York post-WW2. There’s been commentary going around that it’s a ploy by the Jews to distract everyone from what’s happening in Gaza.
I didn’t care! I have no political allegiance to anything other than the St Kilda Football Club. I couldn’t care less if this film was the story of a family if Inuits migrating from the North Pole, I just wanted a good film in exchange for my hard earned!
Intermissions are designed for films like Ben Hur and Gone With the Wind. How the director of this film felt he earned the right is beyond me. You have been warned. 4/10
***
On a brighter note, a couple of others worth seeing. Firstly, Nosferatu is a faithful adaptation of the classic 1930 horror movie. It looks superb, much like director Robert Eggers last film, The Lighthouse, and it is sufficiently scary although I’m not sure why they gave this blood-sucking freak a David Boon-like moustache. Regardless, an entertaining film 7/10
***
Finally, I find Wallace and Gromit films provide this old man with the joy that Looney Tunes cartoons did in the 60s and 70s. This latest one, Vengeance Most Fowl, is no exception. Feathers McGraw is back as another of Wallace’s inventions goes rogue and Feathers capitalises to escape from gaol and wreak havoc.
Wallace and Gromit are as adorable as ever. The imagination from Nick Park and the Aardman studios is phenomenal. Like Looney Tunes, this is a great opportunity to take the kids and grand kids whilst lapping up the adult humour. 7.5/10
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About Ian Wilson
Former army aircraft mechanic, sales manager, VFA footballer and coach. Now mental health worker and blogger. Lifelong St Kilda FC tragic and father to 2 x girls.
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Really looking forward to seeing A Complete Unknown. My recent movie experiences are:
“A Real Pain” – 9/10. A clever dramedy about 40yo Jewish cousins on a trip to Poland financed by grannie’s will. LOL funny and poignantly wise and clever. Script is not Hollywood predictable.
“Anora” – 5/10. Won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Pretentious. A pastiche movie. Brat sexploitation. Cheap Sopranos knockoff. Meandering conclusion. Yeah nah. A lap dance of a movie. Superficially attractive but ultimately unsatisfying.
“The Secret of the Sacred Fig” – 7/10. An Iranian film about the moral and ethical compromises of living in a police state (in this case a theocracy but could equally apply to China or Russia). Very long at 2 hours 50 minutes. Slow building tension – at 2 hours it was 9/10 compelling. Last hour is farcical schlock. Like the dog that caught the car – the director didn’t know what to do with it. Worth seeing – but leave early and save on babysitter costs.
Love the bit about getting the kids off Tik Tok and Australian Idol, and pointing them in Bob’s direction!
Also loved the irony of wanting a good film in exchange for your hard earned, but pledging your allegiance to the St Kilda Footy Club! Or are you just a hard marker when it comes to films?
Nothing wrong with a bit of Wallace and Gromit.
Excellent work Ian. I saw the film last night with my 16-year old daughter – it was a thrill for me just for her to show interest in wanting to see the movie. She’s grown up listening to a lot of Bob…courtesy of me.
I’m a natural cynic with these sort of Dylan pics – everything you need to see (footage, interviews, songs, etc.) re 1961-65 is in the Scorsese documentary ‘No Direction Home’ which is a masterpiece. But for the sake of my daughter, I went in with an open mind, and there I was in the first 5 minutes with tears in my eyes when Dylan was playing ‘Song to Woody’ to Woody Guthrie in the New Jersey hospital.
The music is very well done. Chalamet is very good in the near impossible role of Dylan. Ed Norton is even better as Pete Seeger – he really nailed it.
Some of the spiced-up storyline didn’t gel with me e.g. Johnny Cash was not at Newport in ’65, Suze was long off the scene by then, and the ‘Judas’ incident occurred in Manchester in ’66, and there was no feel for the poverty that Dylan experienced when he first rolled into NYC in the winter of ’61, but I understand that this is a Hollywood drama and the main thing is selling the Dylan legend to a new audience.
My daughter loved the film and we spoke about it for ages afterwards.
Good morning Ian. Yesterdays 42C has now settled down to a sensible 25C.
I have my ticket to see ‘A Complete Unknown’ at Glenbrook Cinema tomorrow night (Thursday 30 Jan). It is their opening night and at this stage only 15 of 200 seats have been sold.
I have been aware of this film for over a year but have avoided getting into the ‘who dares play Dylan’ debate – there is no point to such things.
I have no doubt I will enjoy my night out – an intimate setting walking the streets of Greenwich Village in the early 60’s, listening to songs that have soundtracked my life more than any others.
On top of that, the cinema’s caramel salted choc tops are exceptional!
Thanks Ian. I saw the Dylan film Sunday and thought it excellent. Some have suggested it was a 140-minute karaoke performance, but I thought the musicianship was magnificent. While the plot was clearly dramatised for impact, I learnt more about Dylan.
One reviewer noted how musician biopics can be somewhat formulaic with the protagonist a flawed genius fighting demons (often booze or drugs) and how, at least in the film, Dylan’s just a bit of an arsehole and not really fighting his ego at all although he does (and continues to) find fame a torment.
Once home from the cinema, I popped him on the turntable and marvelled some more.
I generally agree with most of the comments above. For me, the wow factor was in the form of the cast’s meticulous preparation for their roles: in Timothy Chalamet’s case, learning something like 40 Dylan songs. Monica Barbaro has said recently that she didn’t play guitar prior to this role and “only sang in the shower”. I thought the music was the highlight, with a well-acted but slightly confected storyline of Bob providing great entertainment, if not quite a few historical inaccuracies. If you want the skinny on exactly what happened, when and with whom, watch Scorcese’s doco. “A Complete Unknown” is wonderful entertainment. Bravo!
Yes Ian I can’t believe Monica didn’t play guitar. And even if the other 2 played a bit, it was still an incredible effort to execute what they did. Agree a Complete Unknown is terrific as is Don’t Look Back. Cheers