A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

Browse all

Ten mistakes in "A Complete Unknown"

Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan

Last Thursday, the new biopic about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by James Mangold, who also made the Johnny Cash biopic with Joaquin Phoenix, officially hit Italian theatres. The film, premiered in Rome, arrives in Italy nearly a month after its release in the United States, where it was received quite favourably, particularly thanks to the masterful performances of the main actors involved. Supporting the Hollywood star of the moment is a stellar cast, from Edward Norton as Pete Seeger to an extraordinary Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo aka Suze Rotolo.

The screenplay follows a classic Hollywood style, which in some cases required cutting, stitching, and blending real and fictional events for narrative purposes. In fact, according to director Mangold in an interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan himself explicitly asked the director to include a completely fictional anecdote in the movie—which one is unclear, but we’ll get to that later. Despite some “poetic licenses” (which, let’s be clear, do not undermine the final result but have raised some eyebrows among the strictest Dylanologists), the narrative strives to be as realistic as possible. Any small cracks in reality don’t collapse the structure but instead allow excess light to seep through, adding to a rather solid and linear narrative based on Elijah Wald’s book The Day Bob Dylan Took the Electric Guitar. A Complete Unknown is a work of fiction, or rather, a highly successful fiction that captures the essence of someone who remains, even today, “a complete unknown” while being the greatest songwriter of the 20th century.

Here are the ten main scenes in the film that do not align with reality, according to expert Dylanologists:

The hospital scene with Woody Guthrie

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551125
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551124
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551125
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551124

The scene: At the start of the film, we see young Bob Dylan visiting his idol, Woody Guthrie, who is gravely ill and hospitalised with Huntington's disease, which prevents him from speaking. This is one of the film's most touching scenes, representing a kind of passing of the torch: Dylan sings a song he wrote specifically for Guthrie, aptly titled Song To Woody.

The reality: When Dylan arrived in New York, he did indeed seek out Woody Guthrie, first at his family home in Howard Beach, Queens, and later at the home of his caregivers, Bob and Sidsel Gleason, in East Orange, New Jersey, where Guthrie spent weekends and where Dylan first met him. However, at the time of their meeting, Dylan had not yet written Song To Woody. The song was written later, inspired by the time they spent together during their initial meetings. Supporting the cinematic version, however, research for the film reportedly uncovered an old Guthrie record belonging to Dylan, on which Dylan had drawn himself traveling to New York and written the first verse of the song in the bottom right corner.

The first meeting with Pete Seeger

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551128
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551126
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551127
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551128
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551126

The scene: In the same hospital scene, sitting next to Woody Guthrie is Pete Seeger (a true legend of the 1960s American folk scene), who is so impressed by Dylan’s musical performance that he decides to mentor him and invite him to stay at his house, even though they just met.

The reality: Seeger recounted to Rolling Stone that his first meeting with Dylan was in Greenwich Village, where, after hearing him play, he invited him to perform at a folk night at Carnegie Hall: «I remember sitting at a long table with a group of other participants, saying, ‘Folks, we only have time to sing three short songs each because we’ve got about 10 minutes per person.’ And this skinny kid raised his hand with a sly grin and said, ‘Well, one of my songs lasts 10 minutes.’ I think it was A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. What a song!»

The first meeting with Joan Baez

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551129
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551131
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551130
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551129
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551131

The scene: In the movie, folk singer Joan Baez and Bob Dylan meet for the first time at Gerde's Folk City, a well-known venue in Greenwich Village where both are performing that night.

The reality: In reality, things didn’t happen exactly like that: Dylan and Baez did meet at Gerde’s Folk City, but as Baez herself told Rolling Stone, she went there specifically to see him, accompanied by her then-boyfriend: «Someone said to me, ‘Oh, you’ve got to come hear this guy, he’s amazing.’ So I went with my very, very jealous boyfriend, and we saw this scruffy little pale-faced human being get up in front of the crowd and start singing his 'Song to Woody.' Inside, of course, I was melting, because he was so beautiful, but I couldn’t say anything because I was sitting next to my very, very jealous boyfriend, who was glaring at Dylan and mentally tearing him apart. Then Bob came over and said, ‘Uhhh, hi’—one of those eloquent greetings—and I thought he was brilliant and superb and all that.»

 

The night of the Cuban missile emergency

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551134
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551132
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551133
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551134
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551132

The Scene: With a narrative device reminiscent of Forrest Gump, A Complete Unknown places its protagonist in some key events of American history. One of these is the night of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, during which we see Dylan first watching the crisis unfold on TV and then heading to a local venue to sing a protest song titled Masters Of War. Among the crowd listening is Joan Baez: this time, instead of greeting, the two share a passionate kiss at the doorway and spend the night together.

The Reality: Dylan and Baez had a brief love affair, but it only began much later than 1962. Initially, Dylan had a crush on Baez’s younger sister – Mimi – who instead ended up marrying another folk singer from the New York scene, Richard Fariña. Moreover, while the Cuban Missile Crisis had a strong impact on Dylan, according to Wald’s book, Dylan wrote Masters of War while traveling in London, drawing most of his inspiration from the Appalachian folk standard "Nottamun Town." Many believe the song inspired by the Cuban crisis is A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, but this is also false since Dylan was already performing it a month before the crisis occurred.

At the movies with Suze Rotolo

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551135
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551137
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551136
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551135
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551137

The Scene: The only real-life character whose name was changed in the movie—at Bob Dylan's explicit request—is Suze Rotolo, Dylan's first girlfriend, who also appears on the iconic cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. In the film, she is named Sylvie Russo. While the reason for this decision is unclear, it seems that Dylan wanted to protect the memory of someone dear (Rotolo passed away in 2011), who, unlike other characters in the film, was not a public figure, at least not by choice. In the movie, their first meeting becomes a long date where they discuss art, politics, and activism (it is well-known that Suze Rotolo awakened Dylan’s social conscience). During the date, they go to the movies to watch Irving Rapper’s film starring Bette Davis, Now, Voyager. Without giving too much away, the famous "double cigarette scene" from this film is recreated in a particularly touching moment at the end of the movie.

The Reality: We know from the director himself that the movie theater scene is a romantic invention, just as we know that Bob Dylan specifically requested to "protect" Suze Rotolo’s name with a "shield" of fiction. Given Dylan’s protective concern for his first girlfriend, we can speculate that this is the famous invented scene Dylan requested be included in the film—a fiction within a fiction to depict the end of a relationship.

Dylan’s meteoric rise and recording his first album

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551139
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551138
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551140
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551139
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551138

The Scene: Many criticized how Dylan’s rise to fame is portrayed in the movie as being too sudden and implausible. Specifically, right after his performance at Gerde’s, a famous New York Times article by Robert Shelton is published, praising him as «a bright new face.» On the same day, Dylan is taken by his new manager Albert Grossman to Columbia Records, where he meets record producer John Hammond and immediately begins recording his debut album. In the elevator scene leading to the label’s offices, Grossman holds a copy of the article and enthusiastically reads it aloud.

The Reality: Several eyewitness accounts from that era indicate that not all of Dylan’s early performances were successful; there were also a few missteps. Moreover, while it’s true that Dylan went to Columbia on the day the NYT article was published, he was there only to play harmonica on a song by Carolyn Hester that Hammond was producing. Dylan recorded his debut album two months later and met Grossman only after signing with Columbia.

The police whistle Dylan used in Highway 61 Revisited

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551141
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551143
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551142
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551141
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551143

The Scene: Another scene that baffled Dylanologists is the one involving the famous police whistle used by Dylan during the recording of the title track of Highway 61 Revisited, the 1965 album that also features Dylan's most famous song, which inspired the title of the film Like A Rolling Stone. In the film, Dylan purchases the police whistle almost on a whim from a street vendor he encounters on his way to the recording studio. «Do you have children?» asks the vendor. Dylan replies, «Yes, thousands.» The whistle then takes on symbolic significance, representing renewal and a desire to break the mold.

The Reality: The truth about how that famous whistle ended up in Dylan’s mouth and on the album was revealed by organist Al Kooper: «At the time, I wore that police whistle around my neck like a necklace,» Kooper told Rolling Stone in 2016. «I used it in certain situations, mostly drug-related—it was my sense of humor at the time. While we were recording the song, it sounded great to me. I took the necklace, put it around Bob’s neck, and said, ‘Play this instead of the harmonica.’ And that’s how it happened.»

Dylan's appearance on Pete Seeger's TV show

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551144
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551145
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551144
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551145

The Scene: Toward the end of the film, Bob Dylan makes an impromptu appearance on a folk music TV program hosted by Pete Seeger. The guest of honor on this episode is a blues singer named Jesse Moffette, with whom Dylan jokes live and performs a song.

The Reality: Pete Seeger indeed hosted a program titled Rainbow Quest, which aired in New York and New Jersey and featured folk, blues, and bluegrass musicians. However, Dylan never actually appeared on the show. Additionally, the blues singer Jesse Moffette (played by real blues guitarist Big Bill Morganfield) never appeared either, as that singer never existed. The entire scene is therefore fictional and serves to exaggerate the relationship between Seeger and Dylan—a relationship that was important but probably not as significant as the film portrays.

Johnny Cash’s Encouragement Speech

Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551146
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551147
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551146
Ten mistakes in A Complete Unknown Fact checking the film on Bob Dylan | Image 551147

The Scene: A similar treatment is given to Johnny Cash, a figure to whom director James Mangold is undoubtedly very attached, having previously directed the biographical film about him—Walk the Line (2005)—with Joaquin Phoenix as the “Man in Black.” In A Complete Unknown, Johnny Cash becomes a pen pal of Dylan, encouraging him to follow his own path without being influenced by others. Their relationship peaks in a scene in the parking lot just before Dylan’s final performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. After arguing with Seeger, Dylan steps outside for fresh air and encounters Cash, visibly drunk, unsuccessfully trying to exit the parking lot with his car. At that moment, Cash delivers an encouraging speech to Dylan, urging him not to let others dictate what music he should play.

The Reality: It is true that Dylan and Cash became pen pals. In fact, Mangold managed to recover part of their original correspondence through manager Jeff Rosen. «The very specific phrase where Johnny says, ‘Bob, drag some mud on the carpet,’ is literally what Johnny wrote to Bob in one of these letters,» revealed the director. Additionally, Cash had publicly defended Dylan’s decision to move away from protest songs, writing a letter to the renowned folk magazine Broadside in which he stated: «Don’t knock him until you’ve heard him,» «He’s almost brand new… SHUT UP!... AND LET HIM SING!» However, the pivotal scene is fictional: the Man in Black was not present at the Newport Festival in 1965, and that encouragement speech before going on stage never happened. Again, as with Pete Seeger’s case, this is more of an imaginative projection of their general closeness.

Dylan’s Final Performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965

The Scene: The film reaches its climax with the famous performance at the Newport Festival in 1965, when Dylan decides to break away from traditional folk music, right in front of what was considered his home, by delivering a first electric set instead of playing acoustically. The testimonies of that night vary so much that it’s almost impossible to separate myth from reality. In the film, the audience’s reaction is mixed, but the more hostile side seems to dominate. At one point, Pete Seeger stares intently at an axe, as the urban legend suggests he wanted to cut the amplification cables. However, there is one detail that has caused an uproar among nearly all Dylanologists worldwide: during the performance, someone in the audience distinctly shouts «Judas!» at Dylan. From the stage, Dylan responds, «I don’t believe you…» and then, addressing his band, instructs, «Play fucking loud!» The band then launches into an incendiary version of Like a Rolling Stone.

The Reality: Every Dylan fan knows that this legendary moment occurred during a concert in England, specifically at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on May 17, 1966: it can be heard in the live recording “The Bootleg Series Vol 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The ‘Royal Albert Hall’ Concert. Nevertheless, the reasons why such a moment couldn’t be left out of this story, and why it makes sense to include it here, are clear and perfectly consistent with the narrative. Along with the cigarette scene with Suze Rotolo, it’s possible that this is the most intentional fictional episode by Dylan. The answer, like almost all others shrouding the songwriter’s mystery, is blowing in the wind, but his myth at sixty years old is still here. As Alessandro Carrera wrote: «Dylan hasn’t been singing for 60 years. He’s been singing for centuries.»