Music
James Mangold was grateful for his one-to-one conversations with Bob Dylan before making ‘A Complete Unknown’.
The 61-year-old director has helmed the new movie that sees Timothee Chalamet take on the role of the music legend and was delighted that circumstance allowed him to spend valuable time with the reclusive artist.
Speaking to Forbes, James said: “His people had read the script and were concerned that I was breaking a boundary that either they or their client had set up. They weren’t reticent about making the movie.
“Still, there was an initial edict that was to make it about the studio, what was happening, and not other stuff.
“However, Covid hit, Bob had to cancel a tour, and I think he asked them to send him the script. He read it, and the next thing I knew was his manager, Jeff Rosen, called me and said, ‘Bob has read your script, he likes it, and he’d love to sit down with you and talk about it.’
“A series of one-on-one meetings with him followed, in which he offered himself up to me. It wasn’t like he had a really big agenda to set me straight about; he wanted to make himself available so I could ask the questions he imagined I wanted to ask.”
The movie charts Dylan’s arrival in New York City in 1961 through to his controversial use of electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and Mangold believes that the ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ singer was grateful that he wasn’t approaching the project with an “agenda”.
The ‘Ford v Ferrari’ director said: “I don’t think I had an agenda, like a biographer might, where you feel this kind of thesis they’re shaping their book toward.
“I had no agenda other than to know what he felt and experienced. The questions weren’t shaping him toward a story I already wanted to tell. To some degree, the story he saw I was already telling was observational and didn’t pick sides.
“I don’t think of the movie as dispassionate; I don’t see there being a hero or villain at all. I adore every side of the argument and all the characters representing them.”
Mangold was also pleasantly surprised to discover Dylan’s love for film.
The director explained: “More than anything, the last word that would have come to my mind about Bob was enigmatic.
“Bob was straightforward and friendly and disarmed me at the beginning by talking about how much he enjoyed ‘Cop Land’, an old film of mine. Bob remembered it with great clarity, the whole plot line, and was playful about asking questions about making that movie.
“We then talked about the Johnny Cash movie I made, ‘Walk the Line’, and he admired it.”
Mangold added: “Then, we talked about other movies. He clearly loves watching films. I found that true with a lot of musicians. The connection between movies and musicians is really strong.
“By the time we got down to brass tacks and talking about our project, I already thought this was a lovely person with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the entire world of art who was interested in sharing whatever perspective he could.”