Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for A Complete Unknown!
During the director’s commentary for A Complete Unknown, James Mangold reveals many fascinating details that display the passion and attention to detail that the creative team had when creating the Bob Dylan biopic. From the time of its early release, A Complete Unknown received positive reviews from critics and viewers, painting an interesting picture of Bob Dylan’s life in the 1960s.
You are watching: 10 Biggest Reveals In A Complete Unknown’s The Director’s Commentary
After its exclusive theatrical run, A Complete Unknown released digitally on February 25. While fans can wait until late March or early April 2025 for the film to hit streaming, A Complete Unknown’s digital release came with valuable extra content that enhances the viewing experience. Director James Mangold offered his perspective and experience making the film in the director’s commentary, revealing many interesting details about A Complete Unknown.
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Bob Dylan’s Apartment In A Complete Unknown Was An Exact Replica Of His 4th Street Apartment
A Complete Unknown Forensically Recreated Bob Dylan’s Real Apartment
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One of the biggest Oscars snubs was that A Complete Unknown didn’t get nominated for Best Production Design. While it wouldn’t have won, the film deserved the nomination just as much as Conclave and The Brutalist. I think the movie got overlooked because it’s not as noticeably flashy. However, the director’s commentary for A Complete Unknown shows just how impressive the sets were, recreating some of the most iconic locations in both folk history and Bob Dylan’s life.
A prime example is that the production design used photographs to replicate exactly Bob Dylan’s 4th Street apartment down to the little details of what was lying around. Knowing that it’s accurate, viewers can get an interesting glimpse into the singer’s domestic life, rather than simply seeing him as a performer.
Despite eight nominations, A Complete Unknown didn’t take away any of the 2025 Oscars.
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Monica Barbaro Never Sang Prior To A Complete Unknown
Monica Barbaro Learned To Sing And Play Guitar In Nine Months
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The music of A Complete Unknown is unique in that everything was filmed and recorded live without the use of earpieces or timing mechanisms. While most of the praise goes towards Timothée Chalamet sounding exactly like Bob Dylan under the circumstances, Monica Barbaro’s performance as Joan Baez deserves just as much appreciation. Timothée Chalamet had a background in singing and five years to prepare. In the director’s commentary, James Mangold revealed that Monica Barbaro had never sang before A Complete Unknown, and she had to replicate an impossibly pure and precise vocalist known for her nightingale voice.
Unlike Chalamet, Barbaro only had nine months to achieve this seemingly impossible feat. This isn’t meant to downplay his achievements but to bring attention to her hard work. Even before watching the director’s commentary, I thought she deserved her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, but I am more emphatic about that knowing that she started from nothing when it came to her singing and guitar playing.
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James Mangold Doesn’t Think Bob Dylan Is An Enigma If You Look At His Lyrics
Mangold Asserts That Bob Dylan’s Lyrics Reveal The Truth About The Singer
One of the most surprising statements from James Mangold in A Complete Unknown’s director’s commentary is that he thinks Bob Dylan isn’t an enigma. Dylan spent his whole career building this mysterious, enigmatic persona, so it feels odd for the director to push back against that narrative. Mangold suggests that if a person puts Bob Dylan’s songs in order of release and reads the lyrics, they will understand the musician.
The musician actually disagreed with this take in a 1971 unreleased TV interview, when he pushed back against critics viewing his songs as autobiographical (via Rolling Stone). Ultimately, even though James Mangold pushes back on the enigmatic image of the singer, the inscrutability of what makes A Complete Unknown great.
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The Movie Amadeus Inspired A Complete Unknown
A Complete Unknown Replicated The Storytelling Style Of Amadeus
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In the director’s commentary for A Complete Unknown, James Mangold revealed the 2024 Bob Dylan film was inspired by another musical biopic – Amadeus. The film, directed by Miloš Forman, follows the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, Antonio Salieri. Forman mentored Mangold, and Mangold admired how Forman told the story of the 18th-century musical genius, showing the titular character through the eyes of people around him.
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Amadeus
R
Biography
Documentary
Drama
History
10/10
Release Date
September 19, 1984
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Runtime
160 minutes
Cast
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F. Murray Abraham
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Tom Hulce
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As such, James Mangold decided to take a similar approach to storytelling, showing Bob Dylan through the eyes of Pete Seeger, Sylvie Russo, Joan Baez, and Johnny Cash. Ultimately, this is part of what makes A Complete Unknown special. These other characters are just as well-developed and important to the story as Bob Dylan himself.
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A Complete Unknown Uses The Real Letters Between Johnny Cash And Bob Dylan
James Mangold Requested To Use The Real Letters In A Complete Unknown
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The relationship between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash is an important part of the folk singer’s journey in A Complete Unknown, and Cash is the one to encourage Dylan to go electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival – a fictionalized moment that feels true to the real-life relationship. Although many parts of their story are fake, the letters aren’t one of them.
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James Mangold revealed in the director’s commentary for A Complete Unknown that the words in the letters back and forth between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash were real. He asked Dylan’s manager if they still had the letters and, if so, could they use them in the film. The manager quickly sent scans of the letters over to Mangold, which the director used word-for-word in the script. This makes the letters possibly the most authentic part of A Complete Unknown.
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Bob Dylan Went Electric Because He Was Lonely
Bob Dylan Longed To Play Onstage With A Band
James Mangold doesn’t reveal many details about his conversation with Bob Dylan, but one of the most interesting is his explanation for “going electric.” Dylan talked about how lonely it was to be on stage as a solo folk artist for two hours at a time with just a guitar.
He longed for the friendship and camaraderie of a band, feeling jealous of others, which contributed heavily to his decision to play electric with a band. Throughout researching Bob Dylan for A Complete Unknown coverage, I’ve struggled to get into his head because he’s been so mythologized. However, this extremely human detail about Bob Dylan provides valuable insight into the mind of the singer who just longed for connection.
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Most Of The Audience Members In A Complete Unknown Didn’t Exist
The SFX Team Added In The Audience In Post-Production
One perplexing part about the credits for A Complete Unknown is the fact that it lists a visual effects team. At first glance, the movie doesn’t look like it includes any visual effects. The Bob Dylan movie is grounded in realism to the point that they brought in vintage trash from the 60s to put on the streets during scenes. However, James Mangold revealed exactly where the VFX came into play.
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A Complete Unknown includes multiple concert scenes, and most of the audience members in those sequences didn’t actually exist. He explained that only the first seven rows of people were present during filming. The VFX team superimposed the rest after the fact because managing thousands of extras at once was infeasible.
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Monica Barbaro Filmed Almost All Her Scenes Barefoot
A Complete Unknown’s Joan Baez Captured A Key Detail About The Real Singer
Bob Dylan stories always have a complicated relationship with the truth because the singer has lied about so much of his past and experiences. However, A Complete Unknown balances out the fabulist aspects of the narrative with authenticity to the time period and surrounding characters. A great example of this is the fact that Monica Barbaro filmed almost all her scenes barefoot in A Complete Unknown.
In real life, Joan Baez grew to fame in 1959 with the nickname “the Barefoot Madonna” because she performed barefoot at the Newport Folk Festival. She became known for performing without shoes throughout the 60s and 70s. Monica Barbaro replicated this detail, even though viewers can’t see her feet in most of the scenes.
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Timothée Chalamet Improvised The Funniest Scene In A Complete Unknown
Chalamet’s Improvisation Provided The Film With Some Much-Needed Levity
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One of the funniest scenes in A Complete Unknown happens when Bob Dylan and Joan Baez are performing onstage. She tries to get him to play and sing “Blowin’ in the Wind,” leading him to spin a ridiculous lie about his guitar breaking on the way to the show when a bus lit on fire. He then delivers the laughable line, “My guitar ain’t even on me, so I’m just gonna go see the guitar doctor backstage,” while holding his guitar.
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This felt like the perfect example of Bob Dylan’s cheeky personality in the 60s. Interestingly, Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro improvised almost the entire scene. James Mangold said that he only scripted Joan starting to play “Blowin’ in the Wind” and him saying no. The rest all came from the brilliant minds of the actors in the scene.
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Pete Seeger Really Told The Teaspoon Parable
Edward Norton Discovered Pete Seeger’s Teaspoon Parable During Research
Toward the end of A Complete Unknown, Pete Seeger attempts to convince Bob Dylan to play folk just one more time at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, telling him a parable about a seesaw, baskets, and teaspoons. The speech perfectly fit with the character of Pete Seeger, who has an earnest and optimistic view of the world. The reason it feels so accurate is because Pete Seeger really told the teaspoon parable, although not at that time and place.
While Edward Norton prepared for his A Complete Unknown performance, he came across the parable that Seeger liked to tell, suggesting that James Mangold look into it. The director decided to write the parable into the script for A Complete Unknown.
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A Complete Unknown
Biography
Drama
Music
6/10
143
9.4/10
Release Date
December 25, 2024
See more : My Morning Jacket Set 2024 Tour Dates, How To Get Presale Code Tickets?
Runtime
140 minutes
Director
James Mangold
Writers
Jay Cocks, James Mangold
Cast
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-
Timothée Chalamet
Bob Dylan
-
Edward Norton
Pete Seeger
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Source: https://truongnguyenbinhkhiem.edu.vn
Category: Entertainment