A Complete Unknown

After a broad, symphonic opening with light strings for the first fifteen seconds and some expository monologue, the first strums to Timothée Chalamet’s cover of “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” (written by Dylan in the summer of 1962 and released in 1963) begin to emerge. As the off-screen narrator suggests Dylan (Chalamet) is “a glimpse of the future”, we see a view of him playing in the room, and we hear the iconic voice.

The camera slowly dollies in and pans around at about 0:45, revealing his profile. Notice at 0:59, as the scene moves to a montage of Dylan walking around Greenwich Village, there’s a subtle—but present—addition of percussion. It’s understated, and barely distracts from the song. It recurs at 1:07 as the scene shifts again to Dylan playing at Riverside Church, and the strings at the outset of the trailer return. And all the while he keeps singing the song, without interruption.

The percussion picks up at 1:17 with the introduction of the title cards, and we see a montage of Dylan dealing with his newfound fame—marauded by fans as he enters his car. The pace of the montage picks up as we see scenes both intimate and epic, including scenes on stage with who appears to be Joan Baez. Baez was a frequent collaborator and romantic partner at the very beginning of Dylan’s career until around 1965, suggesting that exploring this relationship may be a focal point of the biopic.

At 1:38, the trailer cleverly suggests the entire performance—this whole time—was diegetic, with Dylan performing the song to what appears to be his family. It’s an astute twist that centres, or at least reminds us, that the biopic serves also as a peek at Dylan’s creative process.

(Notably, the last five seconds or so of the trailer includes a snippet of 1965’s “Like a Rolling Stone”—perhaps his most famous song—but it reads as more of an act of obligatory fan service than part of the trailer proper.)

Overall, the trailer is subtle and understated, focused, and offers a satisfying twist—much in the vein of Dylan’s songwriting.

In what may be considered a very Bob Dylan-esque move, he’s said to support the film because “it’s not really a Bob Dylan biopic”. Whether it is, and to what extent, remains wrapped in the mystery of Dylan—exactly as intended, no doubt.

A Complete Unknown arrives in theatres December 25th.

— Curtis Perry