On the dark side of the road

I went to see Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown last night, and very much enjoyed it. Other bloggers with more Bob-knowledge than I have written about it already (I'd especially recommend Swiss Adam's post at Bagging Area) so I won't do a full review. I will say I think the cast are uniformly excellent. Timothée Chalamet (or Tomato Chalamuffin, as Amusements Minor calls him) inhabits his role, and will be hoovering up nominations come awards season, I have no doubt of that. Edward Norton's supporting role as Pete Seeger is also noteworthy. But beyond the performances, both acting and musical, part of this film's strength is the authentic recreation of early 60s New York. Obviously I wasn't there, of course, but it feels very right, somehow. Watching felt like time travel.

Of course it's not flawless - what is? I'm no Bob expert, we've established that already, but even I know the infamous cry of "Judas" came at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in '66, not the '65 Newport Folk Festival. There's a whole slew of such creative variations but that's fair enough; after all, this is a dramatic retelling, not a documentary statement, and a little licence adds to the story. So even though Suze Rotolo didn't go to Newport in 1965, we get to see Sylvie Russo (an undisguised avatar for Suze) attend with Bob, and finally realise she can't be with him, because it serves the film's narrative arc. And that's okay - it's a story based on truth, not the absolute truth, after all.

Other issues? Well, Toshi Seeger's character is ornamental throughout, almost to the point that you wonder why she was even in the film. Her sole dramatic moment is to stop husband Pete hijacking Bob's electric performance. Critics have been quick to point out that there was a hell of a lot more to Toshi than this... but this is a film about Bob, not the Seegers. The lack of depth in her character was noticeable but not, for me, detrimental.

Anyway, where was I? The film is very good, go and see it if you haven't already. Chalamet is exceptional (see Adam's later Bagging Area post for videos of Timothée performing Dylan songs live on Saturday Night Live, both electric and acoustic), and the whole thing will have you scurrying to revisit your Dylan collection.

Speaking of which... one track I have always loved got a brief, subtle airing in the film, around the halfway mark. Bob and Sylvie's relationship is starting to unravel, there is tension in the air. Whilst they skirt around having a full-blown argument, Bob starts finger-picking the intro to Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. He doesn't sing it, just plays the intro. It's a neat bit of foreshadowing, of course, for Don't Think Twice... is a next-level break-up song. "I give her my heart but she wanted my soul" indeed. From 1963's Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, here it is.

Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If'n you don't know by now
And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It'll never do somehow
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm a-travelling on
But don't think twice, it's all right

And it ain't no use in a-turning on your light, babe
The light I never knowed
And it ain't no use in turning on your light, babe
I'm on the dark side of the road
But I wish there was something you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
But we never did too much talking anyway
But don't think twice, it's all right

So it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
Like you never done before
And it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
I can't hear you anymore
I'm a-thinking and a-wondering, walking down the road
I once loved a woman, a child, I'm told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, it's all right

So long, honey babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
Goodbye's too good a word, babe
So I'll just say, "Fare thee well"
I ain't a-saying you treated me unkind
You could've done better, but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right

Postscript 1: guitarists, learn how to play the song - though it's not quite as easy as this guy makes it seem.

Postscript 2: Adam at Bagging Area makes the excellent suggestion of watching Scorsese's No Direction Home on iPlayer, after the Chalamet movie. I intend on doing that, tonight. Might I also suggest watching the Coen brothers' brilliant Inside Llewyn Davis before the Dylan biopic too? It's total fiction but will get you in a 1961 Greenwich Village mood from the outset.