Bob Dylan had some consultation on the new movie about his life, A Complete Unknown!
Consultation with Bob Dylan
The 83-year-old musician read the script for the movie over COVID and had a meeting with director and co-writer James Mangold.
Meeting with James Mangold
In a newly released interview, James opened up about his meeting with Bob and what things he thought would get push back and more.
Keep reading to find out more…
Script Review
“COVID hit, and then I got a call from [manager] Jeff Rosen saying COVID had canceled Bob’s tour. Given he didn’t have anything to do at the moment, [Dylan] said, ‘Let me read this script that’s got you guys worried.’ And then he read it, and he liked it, and that changed everything,” James told Variety. “That then instigated the series of meetings with myself and Bob, and Bob read the movie you saw. I didn’t think he had an issue with how he was being depicted, because I think that he saw it as essentially: I didn’t have an agenda, and I wasn’t picking a side. From what I sense being with him, that’s the most important thing — that there’s a neutrality that lets everyone figure out what they think from the circumstances that happened.”
Movie Structure and Inspiration
James added that Bob is the reason why the movie starts where it does.
“It starts with suffocating and then running, and rebirthing or building anew. And any casual observer of Bob Dylan’s life can see that that has been something that’s happened more than once, not even in just the period that I chose to depict in this film,” he said. “But that’s very much the reason, coming from that talk with Bob, that the movie opens with him at the station, hitchhiking into New York, and ends with him on the back of a motorcycle, riding away. The arrival at the opening is a departure from the world he left, and the departure at the end is an arrival to a new world and, in a way, a new period of his life. That to me was really clear, that cyclical, almost musical-ballad-like pattern in his life.”
Bob Dylan’s Thoughts on Portrayal
If you missed it, earlier this month Bob spoke out about Timothee Chalamet portraying him in the movie.
At the NYC premiere of A Complete Unknown, Timothee recreated a Bob Dylan look from over 20 years ago…
FAQs
Q: How did Bob Dylan get involved in the movie about his life?
A: Bob Dylan had some consultation on the script and met with director James Mangold to discuss the film.
Q: What inspired the structure of the movie?
A: The movie’s structure was inspired by discussions with Bob Dylan, where the cyclical nature of his life was a key focus.
Q: How did Bob Dylan feel about the portrayal of him in the movie?
A: Bob Dylan did not have any issues with how he was depicted in the movie, as he appreciated the neutrality and lack of agenda in the storytelling.
Credit: yogossip.com
