Timothée Chalamet is in line to win his first Oscar for playing music legend Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. This evocative biopic traces Dylan's arrival on the early-1960s New York folk music scene and his early folk successes before concluding with his fiercely divisive decision to go electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Chalamet is uncanny at assimilating Dylan's physical mannerisms and singing voice (the actor impressively uses his own vocals) while the supporting cast includes Elle Fanning as Dylan's girlfriend Sylvie Russo (based on Suze Rotolo), Monica Barbaro as the noted performer Joan Baez, with whom Dylan had a tempestuous relationship, and Edward Norton as Dylan's pioneering folk mentor Pete Seeger.
Directed by James Mangold and adapted from the book Dylan Goes Electric!, the movie stages several pivotal moments from Dylan's early career. You have the option to watch the movie in IMAX at Cineworld – just imagine the format's expansive screen canvas and all-encompassing surround sound, which will further immerse you in the emotional poetry of Dylan's groundbreaking music.
Here are five scenes from A Complete Unknown that demand the IMAX treatment. And no, you can't protest because things are electric – that's just how it is, nowadays.
1. Performing for Woody Guthrie
Every great artist worships at the altar of somebody else. A Complete Unknown commences its somewhat fictionalised narrative by having Dylan perform for the stricken grassroots folk hero/poet/musician Woody Guthrie (a largely silent Scoot McNairy) in his hospital ward.
What makes the scene really work is the attentive body language of Norton's Pete Seeger. Through the medium of the performance, Seeger understands that Dylan has a rare, raw talent, and the scene sets in motion a partnership that will endure many ups and downs. Plus, it's fascinating to watch this early, naive, humble iteration of Dylan grapple with his nascent abilities in front of his idol – we're reminded that everyone has to start somewhere.
2. Dylan's first open mic night
Chalamet brilliantly sells us on Dylan's ability to win over a crowd with his midwestern drawl, dry humour and idiosyncratic voice. Early on, Pete Seeger gets him to take to the stage following a breathy performance from Joan Baez (as per the film, this is when Dylan and Baez first make a connection with the latter marvelling at Dylan's down-home lyrical poetry).
The sequence communicates the intimate nature of the clubs where Dylan first made his chops, radiating careful attention to detail in the production design, costume design and lighting, not to mention the smoking. Oh, there's so much smoking – those plumes of tobacco fumes will be even more towering when seen in IMAX.
3. Recording Highway 61 Revisited
As the film tumbles through the years, Chalamet's Dylan evolves into a hardened and mercurial figure who rails against the limitations of the music scene. Dylan's aloof yet arrogant nature comes to a head in the film's album recording sequences, which are dotted with the kind of period-specific details that Dylan-heads will love.
Watch the film in IMAX and you can also imagine yourself in the recording studio for real as Dylan tackles classic numbers like 'Like a Rolling Stone' for the first time.
4. 'It Ain't Me Babe'
The fractious relationship between Dylan and Baez provides much of the dramatic spark in the film's second half. Dylan's impenetrable exterior clashes with the more experienced Baez's expectations, and it comes to a head during the film's concert scene when Dylan flat-out refuses to perform one of his most famous songs, prompting Baez to go solo.
Later on, the two perform a dynamite rendition of 'It Ain't Me Babe' at the Newport Folk Festival, and the soul of the scene resides in the heartbroken Suzie's reactions as she realises she can't compete with Baez's attentions. Quite apart from the complex relationship dynamics, the period details in the scene promise to resonate even more when seen in IMAX, particularly the aural sharpness present in the acoustic recordings and the size of the attentive crowd.
5. Dylan goes electric
The impact of the movie hinges on the conclusive scene when Dylan goes against Newport's wishes and takes his band's sound in a radical, hugely controversial new direction, inviting vitriol and objects being thrown. Whether you believe a crowd member shouted "Judas" at Dylan or not, or whether indeed Pete Seeger approached the amp with an axe, there's a nostalgic pleasure to watching this watershed moment in popular music unfold.
In IMAX, this scene promises to be all the more visceral, volleying the crowd's angry reactions via the IMAX speakers and amplifying the harsh nuances of the electric Dylan sound that no one was ready for.
Book your IMAX tickets for A Complete Unknown via the following link.
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