The trailer for the highly anticipated biopic on legendary singer Bob Dylan is finally out. It transports viewers back to the ’60s when Dylan rose to prominence as a folk musician and later became an iconic electric performer, notably at the controversial 1965 Newport Folk Festival. ‘A Complete Unknown’ stars Timothée Chalamet, known for ‘Little Women,’ as the singer of ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’ Based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book ‘Dylan Goes Electric!,’ the film focuses on the controversy surrounding Dylan’s transition to electrically amplified instrumentation.
The trailer opens with Dylan (Chalamet) walking the streets of Manhattan while American singer Pete Seeger (played by Edward Norton) narrates his first encounter with Bob Dylan, hearing him sing and instantly recognizing his future influence. The trailer features some of Dylan’s favorite Manhattan haunts, including Cafe Wha? and Hotel Chelsea.
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Chalamet has immersed himself in emulating Dylan’s persona and successfully captures the sensation’s iconic look with tousled hair, wayfarer sunglasses, and a harmonica. Backed by Dylan’s protest anthem “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” the film charts the journey of the young folk music sensation from Greenwich Village to a global music icon who changed the world with his music.
The film’s official synopsis reads, “Set in the influential New York music scene of the early ’60s, ‘A Complete Unknown’ follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) as he rises meteorically from a folk singer in Greenwich Village to the pinnacle of concert halls and top of the charts – his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation – culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.”
‘A Complete Unknown’ will also explore Dylan’s relationships with Joan Baez (played by Monica Barbaro) and Sylvie Russo (portrayed by Elle Fanning), a fictionalized version of Bob Dylan’s then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo, famously pictured on the cover of ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.’
Written and directed by James Mangold, renowned for ‘Ford vs. Ferrari,’ ‘Logan,’ and ‘Walk the Line,’ the film features a stellar cast including Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, P.J. Byrne as Harold Leventhal, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie, Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman, and Will Harrison as Bob Neuwirth, among others.
In addition to its phenomenal cast and crew, the film’s trailer promises an authentic portrayal of Dylan and his meteoric rise to stardom, without unnecessary embellishments.