Bob Dylan made his on-screen acting debut in Sam Peckinpah's 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Photo: (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images)
By Angus Truskett, ABC
James Mangold's new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown opens in New Zealand cinemas on 23 January.
In the lead-up, the ABC's Angus Truskett revisits the great musician's 50-year cinematic footprint.
Don't Look Back (1967)
D.A. Pennebaker's landmark fly-on-the-wall documentary doesn't just hold the distinction of being the first-ever "rockumentary" - it was also considered the "only good" one by Kurt Cobain.
Shot intimately on black-and-white 16mm film, Pennebaker chronicles Bob Dylan's seismic 1965 England tour, capturing the pivotal moment when he transitioned from a "voice of a generation" folk hero to a pop-cultural icon.
It's hard to overstate how much Don't Look Back became the blueprint for music documentaries; without it, we wouldn't have Get Back, The Last Waltz or see the genre lampooned in This Is Spinal Tap or Walk Hard.
Come for Dylan's cagey and witty philosophical sparring with journalists, and moments spent with Joan Baez and Donovan, stay for the bizarrely hilarious freakout over a broken glass.
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
Bob Dylan's greatest trick has been maintaining his status as a cultural icon for more than six decades while remaining an incredibly enigmatic figures. A feat achieved, in part, by rarely granting interviews and spreading deliberate misinformation whenever he did.
This makes Martin Scorsese's relatively straightforward 3.5-hour documentary - chronicling Dylan's arrival in New York City in 1961 through to his controversial, career-pausing motorcycle accident in 1966 - a small miracle.
Scorsese weaves revealing interviews with key figures from Dylan's early days, including with a rare relaxed and unguarded Dylan, with amazing archival footage ranging from the star's high school rock band to the infamous 1966 "Judas!" performance of 'Like A Rolling Stone'.
It's the perfect 101 for anyone intrigued by Dylan but overwhelmed at the thought of diving into his vast and complex legacy.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
While not directly about Bob Dylan, the Coen Brothers' melancholic black comedy takes place in the very scene that birthed him: the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village in 1961.
Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of a struggling, fictitious folk singer, the titular Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac in a career-best performance), reportedly inspired by early Dylan contemporary Dave Van Ronk.
The Coens conjure a dark and brooding mood as we follow the broke, aloof and ever-unlucky Davis on his hopeless odyssey for success in the music world, with almost-always dire results.
Like all of the Coens' works, the film boasts an amazing ensemble, including Carey Mulligan, Adam Driver, John Goodman and one of the greatest on-screen cats of all time: Ulysses.
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story (2019)
The second Scorsese-helmed feature on this list, Rolling Thunder Revue differs from its relatively straightforward predecessor by leaning into the self-mythologising and false narratives that Dylan was renowned for.
Part documentary, part fiction, Scorsese chronicles 1975's Rolling Thunder Revue - a tour that saw Dylan and a slew of collaborators travel across North America, playing intimate shows in small venues in smaller towns.
While the documentary initially seems relatively "normal", featuring interviews with Dylan and the folk who toured with him, things take a truly bizarre turn when interviews with people (real or otherwise) who weren't involved with the Revue at all - such as Sharon Stone - are woven in.
The live performances are truly electric (no pun intended), particularly a rousing rendition of 'Isis', which has since become its definitive version.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Best remembered for its Dylan-penned soundtrack, which spawned the legendary 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door', Sam Peckinpah's revisionist Western was a critical bomb upon its release, due to studio interference and re-editing that removed more than 20 minutes from his intended cut.
It has since been restored and reappraised, now regarded as one of the definitive works of the genre.
Dylan makes his on-screen acting debut as a store owner who eventually joins Billy the Kid's (Kris Kristofferson) gang, known only as Alias.
I'm Not There (2007)
How do you make a movie about Bob Dylan's sprawling, multi-faceted life and do justice to the decade-spanning, often contradictory artist?
Alexander Payne takes a novel and literal approach by having multiple actors portray Dylan surrogates in the collage-like I'm Not There.
The result is like hitting shuffle on a Dylan playlist, as Payne weaves together multiple eras, faces and scenes, creating a tonal poem of Dylan's life and works.
The film evokes and recreates iconic imagery from Dylan's life, featuring the likes of Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and a scene-stealing, twitchy Cate Blanchett.
The result is more admirable than successful, but a worthy experiment in translating Dylan to the screen.
Hearts of Fire (1987)
Easily the worst of the films associated with Dylan - including the maligned, nearly four-hour, Dylan-directed Renaldo and Clara - this trashy, campy riff on A Star Is Born is a total 80s nightmare with immense straight-to-video vibes, directed by the late Richard Marquand (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi).
Supposedly created as a vehicle for Dylan, who was suffering perhaps the worst critical reception of his career, he plays washed up rock star Billy Parker, who befriends a young, budding rocker, Fiona, after seeing her cover one of his songs in a dive bar.
The film is odd, incomprehensible and often uncomfortable, but it's worth it just to see the leather-clad, ear-pierced, and most definitely indifferent Dylan incorrectly predict that he won't be "one of those rock singers that wins any Nobel Prize".
Masked and Anonymous (2003)
The biggest curio on this list, Masked and Anonymous had its inception as a slapstick comedy series inspired by Jerry Lewis, originally pitched to HBO.
Written by director Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat) and Dylan himself, the script is allegedly based on a series of scrap notes Dylan had accumulated over the years, made up of lines of dialogue and character names. And it shows.
Set in the not-so-distant future, iconic rock musician Jack Fate (Bob Dylan) is asked to play a benefit concert for a politically divided North America, now under dictator rule.
Bob essentially plays Bob, to no one's surprise, but so does everyone else.
The stacked cast (Penélope Cruz, Val Kilmer, Jeff Bridges) all act or speak like characters from Dylan songs, with each line of dialogue coming off like Dylan-penned verses. Despite all of this, the film, while truly strange, might just be the most honest representation of Dylan on screen.
At the very least it's responsible for this iconic look Dylan debuted at the Masked and Anonymous premiere at Sundance - then replicated by Timothée Chalamet at A Complete Unknown's New York City premiere.
- This story was first published by [ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-17/bob-dylan-movie-complete-unknown-dont-look-back-no-direction-hom/104822494 ABC News].
