Would a Joan Baez movie be more appropriate than ‘A Complete Unknown’?
Bob Dylan has always been known as a man of mystery. Despite everyone and their mother being able to spout off at least one of his lyrics at the drop of a hat, Dylan has always switched up his traditional method of writing to the point where no era of his career is necessarily tied to any other. Although Hollywood only touched briefly on the moment that he goes electric in the movie A Complete Unknown, would it have been more refreshing to see the entire story told through Joan Baez’s eyes?
Because, really, there was no way that James Mangold was going to be able to cram every bit of Dylan’s career into a tight two and a half hours. Most of what he was about changed throughout his career, and while people are probably glad that he skimped out on his born-again Christian phase, all we’re left with is Timothée Chalamet delivering a showstopping performance of the asshole that most people knew too well.
Looking at where Baez was at this point in her career, though, it would be interesting to see her fine-tuning her voice as a revolutionary and seeing where that had taken her. While she arrives in the movie fully formed as one of the best voices in the folk-rock scene, the journey to getting on that stage singing ‘The House of The Rising Sun’ practically writes itself, like her upbringing in San Francisco or taking her first political stances as a young woman.
In the context of the film, her portrayal feels far too reminiscent of another Mangold classic, Walk the Line. Ignoring the fact that both movies involve the director providing guidance to someone portraying Johnny Cash, seeing the way that Dylan and Baez become volatile onstage feels far too close to the animosity between Johnny and June during their tense moments in his first film.
And since a lot of what Dylan has said has been pored over like rock and roll hieroglyphics, Baez’s contribution shouldn’t be left only to her song ‘Diamonds and Rust’. Her relationship with Dylan was about more than a passing fancy, and despite Monica Barbaro giving one of the best performances in the movie, there’s an entire story behind her casual ridiculing of Dylan that has yet to be tapped into.
Because her story is so tied up with Dylan’s throughout the movie, Baez deserves more than being an also-ran next to Dylan and should be given a film of her own. The whole point of Dylan is that he is virtually unknown to the public, so having someone who is an open book about her politics and social causes is a lot more enthralling, whether that’s seeing her colleagues fall or stick to her principles when making her own classics.
It would also be interesting to look at the way that her songs have been interpreted over the years. Despite being a legend, some of her biggest songs have also had a second life when they were covered by other people, like Led Zeppelin’s take on her rendition of ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ or Judas Priest eventually covering ‘Diamonds and Rust’. There’s a whole story to be made out of what those forebearers of metal saw in those tunes, but the true reason is that there was some genuine passion that came naturally to Baez.
So, while a figure like Dylan does give the film team a bit more wiggle room in terms of what they can and can’t show, Joan Baez is every bit as deserving of that treatment for leaving her mark on music history. Her origins might not be as mysterious as her old flame, but when the dust settled, her songs were etched into the fabric of music history alongside ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.