The Missing Dylan Question In "Complete Unknown"

𝕵𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖔𝖇 𝕯𝖎𝖌𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖑 𝕸𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖆

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Post on Dec 26, 2024

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The Missing Dylan Question in "Complete Unknown"

Joshua Marston's 2016 film, "Complete Unknown," isn't your typical mystery thriller. It eschews jump scares and explosive action in favor of a slow burn, a carefully constructed puzzle box of identity and perception. While the film's central mystery revolves around the enigmatic Alice (played by Rachel Weisz), a recurring, unspoken question subtly haunts the narrative: what if Alice is a Dylan? Not a specific Dylan, but a representation of the many untold stories and hidden identities that exist beyond the curated narratives we present to the world, a mirror reflecting Bob Dylan's own chameleon-like persona and his constant reinvention. This essay will delve into this unspoken "Dylan Question," exploring how the film uses ambiguity, performance, and the very nature of storytelling to suggest a deeper, more nuanced reading than simply a straightforward thriller.

The Performance of Self: Alice as a Chameleon

Alice enters the life of Tom (Michael Shannon), a seemingly ordinary man celebrating his birthday, as a complete stranger. She captivates him with her charm and apparent openness, yet simultaneously keeps him, and the audience, at arm's length. This immediately establishes a central tension: how much can we truly know another person, and how much of what we perceive is constructed performance? This resonates deeply with Bob Dylan's career, marked by countless transformations – from the folk protest singer to the electric rock star, to the gospel singer, to the seemingly endless parade of personas he adopted throughout his career. He famously resisted being pinned down, constantly shifting his identity and challenging audience expectations.

Alice mirrors this elusiveness. She claims to have numerous past lives, each with a different name and profession. These aren't merely lies; they are performance choices, carefully crafted identities she adopts and discards. She's an actress playing a role, but the role itself is a constantly shifting, fluid concept. Is she escaping a dark past? Or is she simply an artist creating her life as a work of art, similar to how Dylan crafted his legend? The film refuses to offer definitive answers, leaving the audience to grapple with the ambiguity.

The Unreliable Narrator and the Fragmented Truth

"Complete Unknown" masterfully employs the unreliable narrator trope. We experience the narrative primarily through Tom's perspective, yet his understanding of Alice is consistently flawed. His initial fascination morphs into suspicion, and then to a desperate attempt to grasp the "truth" behind her multiple identities. However, the film subtly suggests that Tom's search for a singular, definitive truth might be misguided. Truth, in the context of the film, is fragmented, multifaceted, and perhaps, ultimately unknowable.

This parallels Dylan's own enigmatic nature. His lyrics are often open to multiple interpretations, filled with allusions and ambiguities. He cultivated an aura of mystery, deliberately obscuring his personal life and allowing his music to speak for itself, sometimes in cryptic and contradictory ways. Alice, in this context, becomes a metaphor for the elusive nature of artistic truth, challenging the audience's inherent need for a clear-cut narrative. The "truth" about Alice, like the "truth" behind Dylan's art, exists not in a single, definitive answer, but in the many possibilities and interpretations the film presents.

The Power of Storytelling and the Construction of Identity

The film constantly underscores the power of storytelling in constructing and shaping identity. Alice's multiple past lives, each a meticulously constructed narrative, demonstrate her ability to create and inhabit different personas. This raises the question: is the 'real' Alice the sum of her various identities, or is there some core essence hidden beneath the layers of performance? This mirrors Dylan's use of persona and mythology in his artistic creation. He transformed himself through his music, crafting a unique and compelling image that evolved over time, always retaining a sense of mystery.

The film’s characters actively participate in the creation of Alice's story. Tom tries to define her, to find the "real" Alice beneath the surface. Other characters add their own pieces to the puzzle, creating a collective narrative that is simultaneously captivating and frustratingly incomplete. This collaborative construction of identity is a powerful commentary on the social dynamics of perception and the ways in which our identities are shaped by how we are perceived by others. In the same way, Dylan's identity was shaped and reshaped by the audience's interpretations of his music and persona.

The Unanswerable Question and the Meaning of "Complete Unknown"

The film ultimately refuses to provide a definitive answer to the "Dylan Question." It doesn't definitively state that Alice is a Dylan-esque figure, but the parallels are too numerous and too compelling to ignore. The ambiguity is deliberate; it’s a core element of the film's artistry and its exploration of identity. The unresolved mystery isn't a failure, but a statement. It reflects the elusiveness of identity, the complexities of human experience, and the ultimately unknowable aspects of the self.

The title itself, "Complete Unknown," highlights the film's central theme. Alice represents the countless "complete unknowns" walking among us, people whose identities are far more nuanced and complex than the simplified narratives we often construct about them. The film invites us to question our own assumptions and perceptions, encouraging us to consider the untold stories, the hidden lives, and the multifaceted identities that exist beyond the surface. It forces us to acknowledge the inherent ambiguity of human experience, mirroring Dylan's own continuous reinvention and rejection of easy categorization. The film's lasting impact is not in solving its central mystery but in forcing us to confront the unsettling and fascinating reality that some questions, like the true identity of Alice, may remain forever unanswered – and that's perfectly okay. The ambiguity itself is the message. The "Dylan Question" remains unanswered, a subtle but powerful undercurrent adding another layer of complexity to this already richly layered and thought-provoking film.