Elvis changed the game. The Beatles changed the game. Bob Dylan changed the table on which the games were played.

In the film ‘A Complete Unknown‘, Dylan’s impact on the music scene is the focus. Dylan’s impact on attitude within music is the focus. Dylan’s impact on lyrics and poetry is the focus. Could there be any other way to parlay the Genesis of Dylan?

Despite five glaring examples of Hollywood taking artistic freedom and rewriting Dylan’s history – the beginning of a lone wolf’s career (armed with a guitar) and taking the world, and the world of music by storm, is eye opening. Dylan officiants, passing music fans and die hard music groupies should find something to enlighten them. Even if you were a teen holding protest signs when Dylan hit the scene ; if you remember the impact- ‘you weren’t there, man.’

It takes about five minutes into the film for actor Timothy Chalumet to be accepted as a young Dylan. The introspection, the brooding, and the intellectual capacity of Dylan’s (Chalumet’s) personality overcomes the slight physical differences. The fact that Chalumet plays and sings all the songs cements the approval.

It places the punter in the 60’s subculture of New York through Dylan’s eyes. The scenes and characters are often shaded by sunglasses. Dylan’s future was so bright – shades were required.

Riding his motorcycle with abandonment through Greenwich Village- a telling subplot? A vehicle for Dylan to ponder, muse, and blow off steam. The answers for Bob were – ‘blowing in the wind’ as we follow the beginning of his helmet-less journey into what would become a historic odyssey. Einstein should have had a motorbike, Neil Peart did.

Dylan was an original rebel. Brando was The Wild One but didn’t carry a guitar. Elvis was a wild child but didn’t write songs and refused to comment about social issues. Dylan shocked the already electrified minds of folk artists and their followers with an acoustic guitar and piercing lyrics. He wrote what people tried to say. He sang with a nod to Guthrie, a smile to Cash and a wink towards the establishment. He was involved with a movement from afar. He stood alone. He sang alone. He played Harmonica alone. He thought alone.

He was a reluctant participant who was taken more seriously than he took himself. An ever changing poet who walked his own path from the beginning with a middle finger to the people and fans who gave him a stage. Dylan was ‘a changin’ with a plugged-in guitar and a backing band who were ‘ changin’ alongside him. The folk scene wanted change around them but could not accept change within.

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‘A Complete Unknown’ ends with the folk scene in Dylan’s rear view mirror. The beginning of Dylan’s journey is firmly embedded on a marker alongside music’s long and winding road. Dylan’s original, ongoing, and seemingly never-ending road trip is now etched into the pyches of newer generations. In this age of social media platforms and self-absorbed behavior dictating success and fame- it’s hard to imagine anyone taking Dylan’s place as ‘A Complete Unknown.’