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A Complete Unknownonce again proves Timothée Chalamet can do it all. The biopic, directed and co-written by James Mangold, has already created award buzz and critical acclaim for the 27-year-old actor as critics have praised his performance as the music icon Bob Dylan, from his singing to his guitar playing. The movie approached Dylan’s story differently than audiences have seen in recent years with biopics. It solely focused on his rise to fame while exploring the relationships that defined his music in the 1960s. One of these people was Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), who Dylan’s real-life muse, Suze Rotolo, inspired.At the request of Dylan himself, Rotolo’s name was changed and kept out of the movie, but her spirit and influence over Dylan were still present in Fanning’s character.
Like most biopics, some events in the film were accurate, while others took creative liberties to give minor changes to the story. The relationship between Dylan and Russo was as close as possible to the real relationship between Dylan and Rotolo. The couple dated from 1961 to 1964, and Rotolo was featured on Dylan’s 1963 album,The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,on the famous cover photographed by Don Huntstein. She was a fascinating person whose political ideologies inspired Dylan to write music through a political lens. She was a crucial time in his life, so keeping her in the film in any way was critical, and they accomplished that with Fanning’s character.
Who Was the Real Suze Rotolo?
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Suze Rotolo was an Italian-American artist born to communist Italian parents in 1943. She relocated to Greenwich Village after her father died and her mother was injured in a car crash.In 1961, Rotolo met the man who would change her life, Bob Dylan, at the Riverside Church, where he played at a folk concert. Rotolo was 17 years old at the time, while Dylan was 20, and the two felt an instant connection.
They bonded over their love and admiration for the arts until Rotolo introduced Dylan to the world of politics from her perspective. Rotolo was a passionate working member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) where she engaged in the civil rights conversation and waslater joined by Dylanafter she invited him to a meeting.
She taught him about racial injustice, particularly the 1955 lynching of Emmet Till, which inspired Dylan’s “The Death of Emmet Till.” She sparkeda political awakeningin Dylan that brought about some of his greatest songs and gave these issues a platform during a tumultuous time for minority groups.While this was unfamiliar territory to Dylan, Rotolo was tackling these issues head-on and wasn’t afraid to march for freedomand demand that all Americans be treated with dignity and respect. Her fierce passion for what’s right is truly admirable, and it’s no wonder why Dylan admired her spirit himself.
Why Did Suze Rotolo Become Sylvie Russo in ‘A Complete Unknown?’
As audiences have seen,Rotolo’s name was changed in the music biopic after Dylan demanded it be changed. Rotolo was a notoriously private person who rarely spoke about her time with Dylan, and herespected that then and respects that now. Their relationship, like many others, had its ups and downs, which started in 1962 when Rotolo left for Italy to pursue her artistic education at the University of Perugia. Unlike the film, her absence lasted from 6 to 8 months, and during that time, Dylan was writing some of the most heartbreaking songs of his career. These included “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “One Too Many Mornings,” and “Boots of Spanish Leather.” When she returned to New York, the couple resumed their relationship. However, during the time she was away, Dylan’s success grew and put even more pressure on their already strained relationship.
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In a2008 interview with Terry Gross, Rotolo talked about Dylan’s rise to fame and the unpredictable nature of it.
“I just felt that I no longer had a place in this world of his music and fame, and I felt more and more insecure, that I was just a string on his guitar, I was just this chick. I was losing confidence in who I was and the way I felt in Italy, that I was my own self and could continue my life and not become this object that’s next to Dylan.”
She went on to mention that she moved out of their apartment in 1963 and decided to have an abortion shortly after discovering she was pregnant. This decision left her devastated, andthey decided to split officiallyin 1964. Rotolo got married in 1970 to Enzo Bartoccioli, an Italian film editor, and lived a private life after.
Revisiting the Love Affair with Bob Dylan
Rotolo avoided talking about Dylan until 2008when she released her memoirA Freewheelin' Time,inwhich she recounts her time spent with Dylan in the early ’60s. The two had been deeply respectful of the other’s privacy and, according to an interview with The New York Times, it wasn’t until she saw Martin Scorcese’s 2005Bob Dylan documentarythat she felt comfortable talking about their shared experiences and what that time meant for both of them. Enough time had passed, and the hurt wasn’t as present that she could appreciate the time she had with him.
‘A Complete Unknown’ Lands Electric Rotten Tomatoes Score as First Reviews Roll In
The Bob Dylan biopic is nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, including a Best Actor nod for Timothée Chalamet.
Rotolo died of lung cancer in 2011 and is survived by her son Luca, who’s also a musician living in New York. She remained active in the political environment and protested at the Republican Convention in 2004. Her legacy as an artist and activist lives on, especially inA Complete Unknown.A Complete Unknownis now playing in theaters.
