While the unrefined masses were out impersonating Timothée Chalamet, Chalamet himself was becoming possessed by the spirit of Bob Dylan. At least, that’s what the marketing for James Mangold’s Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown wants you to think, and frankly, it’s not unconvincing. There’s a passing physical resemblance between Chalamet and the young rolling stone, but Searchlight Pictures has put a particular emphasis on Chalamet’s singing impression, which continues with the release of his rendition of “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
We’ve noted in previous promotional materials that Chalamet’s singing is a surprisingly convincing Dylan dupe. “Chalamet as Dylan” was already such an obvious biopic bet you probably could’ve planned his awards campaign for it back when he broke on the scene with Call Me By Your Name. But the fact that he can also mimic the artist’s unique and somewhat frog-like inflection has become a major selling point for the film. In fact, the teaser and trailer released earlier in the year have way more singing than all the promos for Wonka combined, and that was an original movie musical!
The newly released music video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is obviously a way to keep showing off Chalamet’s pipes. But it also highlights the authenticity of the impression by re-creating Dylan’s own video for the song, down to the deliberate misspellings on his hand-written signs (“suckcess,” “man whole”). The video is interspersed with clips of other performances in the film, including from Edward Norton’s Pete Seeger and Monica Barbaro’s Joan Baez. The film-strip style and “Newport Folk Festival” scenery further invokes the time period, but the fourth wall is broken a bit by behind-the-scenes glimpses of the cameras and equipment on set. That’s the only crack in the facade of the film’s relentlessly realistic approach to the young Dylan tale so far, though a minor meta moment in a bonus featurette certainly isn’t indicative of any surprises in Mangold’s approach to the movie. No, expect to ride this “Chalamet is Dylan” vibe straight on to Oscar nominations.
English (US) ·