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The film is based on Elijah Walds 2015 bookDylan Goes Electric!
Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties.
Mangold doesnt play it completely straight though.
Using Walds book as a guide, lets break down whats fact and whats fiction inA Complete Unknown.
Dylans first days in New York
Did Dylan really hitchhike into New York?
We first see Chalamets Bob Dylan hitchhiking with his guitar from New Jersey into New York.
Seegers introduction in the film is based on a real event.
The real Seeger was also found guilty of contempt of Congress.
Was This Land is Your Land really controversial?
This Land is Your Land might be one of American folks most beloved songs.
Those original verses were taken out of later recordings.
Did Dylan meet Pete Seeger at the same time he met Woody Guthrie?
In the film, Dylan, guitar in hand, comes upon Guthries hospital room already occupied by Seeger.
The shy Dylan plays Song for Woody, impressing both musicians.
Wald doesnt mention what would otherwise be a significant evening in the young Dylans life.
This is a candidate for the totally made-up moment that Dylan wanted Mangold to add intoA Complete Unknown.
The real Seeger did at least build an upstate cabin with his wife Toshi (Eriko Hatsune).
However, this scene quickly introduces us to many key real-life figures who had a tremendous impact on Dylan.
That review caught the attention of Columbia Recordss John Hammond, who would sign Dylan.
Did Dylan tell people he used to work at the carnival?
Dylan tells Baez about Wigglefoot in the film, to which she says hes full of shit.
Did Dylan write Masters of War as a direct response to the Cuban Missile Crisis?
A memorable scene inA Complete Unknownfinds Dylan alone watching the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis unfold on TV.
Baez finds her way into the audience and is immediately won over.
Were Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash really pen pals?
Cash and Dylan indeed had a real-life bromance.
Both versions of Cash are smitten by Dylans music.
Dont bad-mouth him, till you hear him, wrote Cash.
Hes almost brand new … … AND LET HIM SING!
Its an interesting decision, considering that every other major character goes by their real name.
According toRolling Stone, Bob Dylan himself requested of Mangold that Rotolos name be changed.
The two also go to a screening of the 1942 Bette Davis filmNow, Voyager.
Did Dylan and Baez not get along on their joint tour?
This frustrates the crowd and Baez, who gladly plays Dylans hits without him.
In reality, the duo did not fight on stage, though these shows were indeed tense.
[Dylan] didnt care.
It was like playing in a funeral parlor.
Cash Goes Electric!
Did Johnny Cash really play an electric set at Newport before Bob Dylan?
Here, too, the film collects anecdotes and smashes them together as if everything happened in one afternoon.
Neuwirth encourages him to not worry about what others think of him.
How they met, however, was not as dramatic as whats depicted inA Complete Unknown.
Maybe this is another moment the real Dylan suggested for the film?
In reality, the whistle came from musician Al Kooper.
I would use it in certain situations, mostly relating to drugs my sense of humor at the time.
When we were recording the song, it just sounded great to me.
I took the necklace and put it around Bobs neck and said, Play this instead of the harmonica.
And there you go.
Did Seeger and Dylan have their final showdown the morning of Dylans set?
(Theres no evidence that this specific argument took place, though.)
Did Johnny Cash give Dylan his blessing to go ahead with his electric set?
Its Holbrooks own Oscar-bait moment … except the real Cash was not at Newport 65.
Dylan takes the stage
What really happened at Newport 65?
This is also the hardest scene to fact-check.
Grossman and Lomax get into a fistfight over the sound.
A frustrated Seeger spots an axe and stomps over to cut the power before his wife stops him.
Cash hands a distraught Dylan an acoustic guitar so that he can finish his set.
We can confirm a few things.
And Dylan played an additional song after Its All Over Now, Baby Blue: Mr. Tambourine Man.
Did someone yell Judas!
Yes … but not at Newport 65.
In what is the films most obvious smudging of real events, the exchange between the Judas!
fan and Dylan responding by telling his band to I dont believe you … ## More on A Complete Unknown
