Timothée Chalamet impresses as Bob Dylan

“I realize I don’t know you,” Bob Dylan’s girlfriend says to the folk music icon in “A Complete Unknown.” Honestly, young film fans might think the same thing.

Director James Mangold’s biopic (★★★½ out of four; rated R; in theaters Christmas Day) beautifully portrays him as a mysterious minstrel studying a complex artist who reaches the early peak of his talent as himself the times changed. Timothée Chalamet, an object of affection for the aforementioned young fans, is sensational as Dylan – he sings, plays guitar and blows the harmonica like a champ – in a mesmerizing exploration of a music scene that reflects the major social and political changes of the early 1960s.

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In 1961, 19-year-old Bobby Dylan travels from Minnesota to New York with a six-string and a dream to visit his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), who is in the hospital and unable to speak because he has Huntington’s disease suffers. Woody’s pal Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) plays banjo for him when Dylan shows up and is impressed when the youth plays a song he wrote for Guthrie, hoping to “maybe ignite a spark.”

He does, because Pete takes Dylan under his wing and Dylan impresses influential people in the folk scene with his original numbers, including superstar Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). As Dylan finds his way in a music industry that initially only accepts his folk standards, he maintains a relationship with the artist Sylvie (Elle Fanning), although he also discovers the chemistry between him and Baez on and off stage.

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As the film follows his rise, “Unknown” treats Dylan as a workaholic genius, wry introvert and self-centered idiot. He feels “pulverized” by his almost sudden fame, but also abandons a duet partner if he doesn’t like the setlist. Eventually, Dylan takes on a more electrifying side, similar to the increasingly popular rock music of the time, angering folk’s stubborn gatekeepers and leading to a controversial “Will he dare join in?” moment at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

Hollywood has been flooded with musical biopics in recent years, but “A Complete Unknown” – which was nominated for Golden Globes for Best Drama and Actor – is different from “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Judy” and the like in three ways.

First of all, it’s not an inferior film: Mangold’s performance is just as entertaining and compelling as his standout Johnny Cash film Walk the Line. The film foregoes a backstory – only a photo album and an email addressed to “Robert Zimmerman” remind us of its past – and is much better for it. And while Chalamet fits well with Dylan’s nasal delivery on classics like “Girl from the North Country” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” his performances seem authentic rather than annoyingly imitative.

The actor is also able to switch between all of Dylan’s enigmatic sides, from playful stage banter to moody malcontent, as he goes from choirboy and pageboy-capped beatnik to riotous, wild biker. (The outspoken Chalamet is impossible to pigeonhole.) Mangold masterfully crafts his musical numbers, whether they’re impromptu sessions or festival appearances, and surrounds Chalamet with a surprisingly melodic supporting group, including Barbaro and Norton.

Here, music legends feel like flesh-and-blood characters, especially when Dylan steers Seeger as the angel of the old guard on one shoulder and Bob’s pen pal Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) as the rebellious devil on the other. “Make some noise, BD,” Cash tells Dylan. “Find some mud on the ground.”

A Complete Unknown is the rare biopic that makes you want to watch it again And Dig deep on Spotify and you’ll likely find new respect for both Dylan as a bluesy maverick and Chalamet as a premier actor of his generation.

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