Why So Blu?

A Complete Unknown (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Bob Dylan has been a source of incredible music since the early 60’s. His folk-inspired sound was original even when his debut was nothing but covers. He skated tremendous controversy upon his attempt to explore electric instrumentation with his now indispensable “Highway 61 Revisited” album. The music outraged the folk music fandom but led to the influencing of a generation and for many artist and music fans to come became a milestone in music history. Dylan’s career from the beginnings to the moment he “goes electric” are covered in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown. Taking a quick line from the classic “Like A Rolling Stone” the film offers a sumptuous glimpse into the life of the reclusive music legend. So how, you ask, is the film and its 4K presentation? Find out within the review, and know the answer is not just blowin’ in the wind.

 

Film

 

Robert Zimmerman, better known as Bobby Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) has just arrived in New York in search of Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). He has just heard that the musical hero has taken ill and wants to sing him a song knowing he may be close to death. Guided back to New Jersey, where he has just come from, Bobby arrives at the hospital to meet Woody and Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Seeger invites Bobby in, and he sings for the pair. Enlightened by the playing and the song, Seeger invites Bob to stay with him and his family while he figures out his next move. When hearing Bob’s newest song in progress, Pete’s wife Toshi becomes emotional. Pete sees Bob’s potential and takes him under his wing.

After touring the folk circuit in New York, from coffee houses to black churches, Bob is able to find his way into an Open Mic night. There he meets Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and they begin a flirtation. That night, Bob also wows the crowd and Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) who offers to be his manager. Bob releases his first album, one of all covers. When it fails to attract an audience, Bob feels like a failure.

At a concert, Bob meets Sylvie (Elle Fanning) and over a countertop diner meal, he charms his way into her life and apartment. The relationship quickly evolves and the two become a couple. When a school trip takes her to Europe for 3 months, Bob and Sylvie argue about the relationship. With Bob’s impending doom about his flop album, Sylvie urges him to go for his original work. She leaves, and Bob pursues new material for a new record. Despite seeking new artistic endeavors, Bob feels wounded by Sylvie’s absence and falls into Joan Baez’s gaze and bed. They begin an affair and artistic partnership.

Sylvie returns from her trip and immediately notices a distance from Bob. There are new songs recorded and some gifted to Joan Baez from Bob. Sylvie is suspicious of this and questions Bob’s motives for sharing. Why is he so close to Sylvie. As time marches on, Sylvie’s suspicions drive the couple apart. We know the suspicions are not in vain.

In 1965, Dylan is ready to embark on a massive change. As evidenced by his massively influential classic “The Times They Are A-Changin’” music was indeed evolving. Bob was always heavily influenced by the rock music and rock stars he heard on the radio. Spurned on by the new stars of the 60’s like The Kinks, Bob wanted to infuse his more folk sensibilities with electric instruments. Hold up in CBS Records studios, he pieced together an excellent band and begins to work on “Highway 61 Revisited.” The album will be a fusion of the past and future of what folk-rock will be.

This leads us to the conclusion of this era of Dylan’s life. The story is history and therefore not a spoiler. Dylan, against the wishes of the Newport Folk Festival committee, went electric on their stage. Years of playing to satisfied crowds among Folk and country legends and label mates like Johnny Cash, Dylan is seen as a Judas by the folk fans. His electric guitar and organ are noise to the crowd. They jeer, boo and throw things. Pete Seeger and the other committee members try to get the sound engineers to turn off the mics, or at the very least turn the sound down. When nothing can be done, and at the vehement insistence of Pete’s steadfast wife, Bob is able to continue to do just as he pleases.

The crowd may not have gotten the experiment that Bob was going for, but they still experienced it. When he walks off stage to boos and jeers of “Judas”, Bob is still expected to come back and sing an encore. Taking Johnny Cash’e guitar, Bob returns to the stage alone and sings a beautiful folk song that hushes the crowd and ends the sour moment in a sweeter note. That same disastrous day, the song that conjured boos at the folk festival hits No. 2 in the Billboard Top 200.

A Complete Unknown takes a very steadfast and straightforward approach to telling Dylan’s story. There is something quite beautiful about his first moments flirting with fame. I have long been an admirer of Bob Dylan’s music and how he has never compromised his vision no matter how strange it may appear to music fans. The film only covers one of many prolific periods in Dylan’s career. After Dylan went electric, further classics appeared, such as Blond on Blond and Blood on the Tracks, and quite a few missteps too. We just can’t deny that Dylan has ever not done things on his own terms.

Now onto my thoughts on the film itself. While it may be easy to discount a Complete Unknown as standard or straightforward, that would be denying an absolute gem of exceptional acting. Timothee Chalamet, Monica Barbaro, Elle Fanning, and Edward Norton are all well worthy of every award nomination they have received for their work in this film. They simply disappear into their performances and melt into them. You’re not seeing the actors but their real-life counterparts. If Chalamet continues this way, he will be right in the school of Gary Oldman or Daniel Day-Lewis. His performance is exceptional.

The music here is also phenomenal. Not just the Chalamet performances either! Monica Barbaro sounds incredible doing a rendition of Baez’s version of “House of the Rising Sun” that verges on definitive. Elle Fanning also gives us a non-singing performance of great vulnerability and pain that you feel from the screen. Edward Norton gives us all the sensitivity you’d hope for from a near mythical figure like Pete Seeger was. He also shines here.

I can’t close the critical portion of the review without mentioning the writing and direction either. James Mangold is definitely a gem of a mainstream director. He still treats film as an art form, even when he’s trying to put bits in the seats. Here he uses his signature warm tones and vintage aesthetic and makes A Complete Unknown feel immersive and rich. Writing with the legendary Jay Cocks, they make the story feel intimate and small without sacrificing the meat of the story that can make everything hit hard and still be surprising even to the most seasoned Dylan fan.

While this isn’t the first and may not be the last film artifact on Bob Dylan to be made, A Complete Unknown is very much one of extremely high quality. It has been lovingly made, expertly acted and packaged for universal audiences. I found the film to be an engrossing experience. The performances and the music shine. The flow of the timeline is fantastic, and I loved that it felt small even though the film is in actuality very big. A Complete Unknown is a film that begs for repeat viewings, so do yourself a favor and snatch up this 4K edition and do just that!

Video

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 2160p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

HDR: Dolby Vision

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail: A Complete Unknown comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray courtesy of Searchlight Pictures/Disney by way of Sony. The film is a lush looking throwback to the 60s complete with a layer of digital grain. Compression is not an issue even with the 66 GB disc, and the image is very pleasing to the eye with the Dolby Vision pass. Clarity is second to none, even in the darkest scenes and textures look fine throughout also.

Depth: There are a few moments where the camera work feels like it is artistically soft. In smaller intimate venues for performances the lensing can appear less focused, but it seems totally like a stylistic choice and not one that would be seen as an error.

Black Levels: Black levels reach a near crush level.  Thankfully this is 4K, so it’s saved by the bitrate, and we have some more room to breathe here.  Night scenes may make you squint if you’re watching during the daytime, but things look just right in the right lighting in your viewing area.

Color Reproduction: Colors are fantastic and of a 60’s vintage.  Primaries all look beautifully realized and full bodied. Blues and greens have a nice pop, while warmer tones look inviting to the eye.  Browns and natural hues are given just as much love as the more common colors too.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are prioritized to the east coast.  A lot of the characters have a pale skin tone, which seems natural to where they are in the film.  This is a natural look that is complimentary to the characters.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean. The digital grain is there but it’s part of the overall look and not a distraction in any way.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Audio Description DTS-HD MA 2.0, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: Without being showy, A Complete Unknown comes home with a wonderful Dolby Atmos mix.  Going one better on the Blu-ray’s 7.1 mix, the added height adds depth to the music sequences.  Whether it’s added echo, more density to crowd noise, or deeper bass on the drums or bassline, the track delivers in these moments.  In quieter scenes, ambience is handled beautifully with pitch perfect dialogue.

Height: Height speakers make concert moments really sing.  Crowd noise, echoes, and folk and rock music really come to life from above.  While this is not an active moving mix, the static channels really elevate the surround activity.

Low Frequency Extension: Bass soars during music moments.  Whether acoustic or electric, basslines dig deep, while car and motorcycle engines in scenes can also come to a thumping rumble as well.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surround sound activity encapsulates the sound of concert halls, outdoor spaces and indoor and outdoor ambience. The activity is often subtle but is nearly constant.  Lovingly complimentary surround sound work.

Dialogue: Dialogue and singing is perfect in this mix.

Extras

Extras for A Complete Unknown are surprisingly lacking.  The Making of Documentary is cut into sections but lasts less than 30 minutes.  The commentary is talky but is not terribly heavy on information. Some moments read like a play by play of the film or filming. This could be interesting for some, but it did not hold my interest for too long.

The 4K edition of the film comes with a slipcover, a bundled Blu-ray where the special features are housed, and a digital code.

Bonus Features:

• The Making of A Complete Unknown
  • The Story
  • Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan
  • The Supporting Cast
  • The Design
• Audio Commentary by James Mangold

Summary

A Complete Unknown took me by complete surprise.  I was a very mild fan of Bob Dylan starting in high school where my high school history teacher and her husband, my high school theater teacher became my friends and started sharing their music with me.  Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks was a high school favorite of mine way back in the early 2000’s. Thanks to The Big Lebowski, “The Man In Me” is a song that always brings a smile to my face. Ah, Electric Dylan.

There’s no denying that the legend that is Bobby Dylan had a huge run in the beginning of his career that then went exactly as he saw fit.  From success to sabotage to comeback to reclusion, Bob Dylan does everything his way.  Embodied by Timothee Chalamet in this film, the young Dylan is now immortalized in a lovingly created biopic.  This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I was electrified.  This 4K edition may be light on the extras, but the overall presentation is fantastic and worth the pickup! Like a rolling stone, roll to wherever you get your physical media and grab a copy.

Get your copy of A Complete Unknown HERE