Warning: This post contains spoilers for A Complete Unknown
Directed and co-written by James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

ends in a distinctive way. Unlike other biopics about musicians, the Bob Dylan movie primarily focuses on the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s rise to fame in the 1960s, culminating with Dylan’s performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. A Complete Unknown was a critical hit and scored several notable awards, including Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Picture. From first arriving in New York City in 1961 to playing sold-out shows, Dylan’s rise as a folk star is well-established in the film, alongside his friendly-turned-contentious relationship with Pete Seeger.

A Complete Unknown ends with Bob Dylan’s set at the Newport Folk Festival. Unlike previous years, however, Dylan had an electric guitar with him and a blues band. This was met with dismay — from folk fans in the audience, who booed, and from Seeger, who tried to cut the cables. Dylan only performed a few songs before leaving the stage, frustrated by the reception to his music. Thereafter, Dylan visits Woody Guthrie in the hospital, while Guthrie’s song, “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh,” plays in the background. Guthrie watches as Dylan rides away on his motorcycle.

Why The Crowd Booed Bob Dylan At The 1965 Newport Folk Festival

Bob Dylan’s Performance Is Now Legendary

In A Complete Unknown, the Newport Folk Festival was a turning point in Bob Dylan’s career. Before this, the singer was primarily known for being a folk performer and his set was considered a game-changer for the trajectory of his music. Considering that “folk” was in the festival name, audiences booed Dylan because he wasn’t playing what was essentially promised. Dylan played an electric guitar, which put off folk purists in the crowd. Not everyone had the same reaction, however, with many people also cheering. But the largely booing crowd stemmed from anger and frustration at Dylan’s sound change.

In reality, there were other reasons — beyond outrage — the crowd may have booed Dylan at the festival. Others who were present at the festival that year argued that some of the booing was due to the poor sound quality, as the electric sound’s amplification made it allegedly difficult to hear the lyrics, and Dylan’s set being short (via The Denver Folklore Center).

The singer only performed three songs that year before leaving, whereas other musician’s sets were much longer. Still, the general feeling of betrayal was, as the film suggests, the core reason for the audience being disgruntled with Dylan.

What Happens After Bob Dylan’s Mysterious Motorcycle Ride Explained

The Motorcycle Incident Isn’t Portrayed Onscreen

A Complete Unknown has a way of including some things that really happened without necessarily expanding on them. For instance, Chalamet’s Bob Dylan is shown riding off on his motorcycle before the screen goes black. It’s a bit of a mystery, but the moment is intentional as in real life Dylan was in a motorcycle accident. The crash happened in the summer of 1966, a year after his Newport Folk Festival performance. The crash occurred near Woodstock, New York and Dylan has revealed that he broke a few vertebrae in his neck.

The exact details of the incident are unclear, though, since Dylan didn’t go to the hospital. A Complete Unknown’s ending alludes to Dylan’s motorcycle crash and it’s a significant way to conclude the film considering the accident is as mysterious as Dylan himself. Crucially, it’s a bookend to his career in the 60s, since the musician stepped away from the public eye thereafter and rarely made any public appearances. Dylan wouldn’t go on tour again for another eight years after his motorcycle accident, though he never stopped recording new music.

Does Bob Dylan Ever Return To Perform At The Newport Folk Festival?

Bob Dylan Has A Very Long Absence

Yes, Bob Dylan did eventually return to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. However, after his controversial performance at the festival in 1965, Dylan wouldn’t return to the festival stage for another 37 years. In 2002, Dylan made his triumphant return, this time playing a much longer set — one that lasted a couple of hours and included new songs and beloved classics.

Interestingly, Dylan took the stage while wearing a fake beard, a cowboy hat, and a wig. The musician’s 2002 return to the Newport Folk Festival wasn’t to be an annual thing, though, and he’s yet to come back.

What Happens To Joan Baez & Pete Seeger After The Film

The Musicians’ Artistic Careers Continued On

Following the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Joan Baez would go on to publish her first memoir in 1968. She continued releasing music, including five separate albums before 1970. Baez would wrap up the 1960s with an appearance at the 1969 Woodstock festival, playing a set that featured 13 songs. She met her future husband David Harris in 1967 and the two got married in 1968, after only three months of dating. Baez welcomed their son, Gabriel, in December 1969. While her romantic relationship with Bob Dylan was no longer working by the mid-1960s, they toured together in the 1970s.

As for Pete Seeger, the folk singer released the album God Bless the Grᴀss, which was dedicated solely to environmental activism, in 1966. Seeger also released anti-war songs like “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” and took part in the 1969 Vietnam Moratorium March in protest of the Vietnam War. With his wife in 1966, Seeger founded the nonprofit organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater to preserve and clean the Hudson River. After Dylan went electric at the 1965 Newport Film Festival, he and Seeger’s friendship soured. Seeger wrote an apology note to Dylan in 1990 to explain his side.

Who Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Rosso Is Based On & Why Her Name Is Different Explained

Sylvie Is A Fictional Character With Real-Life Inspirations

In A Complete Unknown, Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Rosso, Bob Dylan’s girlfriend in the 1960s. While Sylvie as a character is fictional, she is based on Dylan’s real-life girlfriend Suze Rotolo, who appeared on Dylan’s 1963 album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Dylan and Rotolo dated for years, from 1961 to 1964, and she’s considered to be a big influence on his music at the time. Suze’s name was changed for the music biopic because Dylan himself requested it (via Rolling Stone).

In her memoir, Rotolo wrote that it had become difficult to cope with the pressure of being in Dylan’s life and all that came with it. She was so connected to Dylan’s music career that it was hard to be separated from it. Rotolo wanted to be known as someone outside of Dylan and wrote that she wasn’t just a “string on Dylan’s guitar.”

What A Complete Unknown Leaves Out About Bob Dylan’s Life

Several Key Figures In Dylan’s Life Are Missing

Since Mangold’s film is focused on Dylan’s life and career during the first half of the 1960s, it leaves out plenty about the musician’s life. Even some of the events depicted in A Complete Unknown are done so with a splash of creative liberty and alterations. Namely, however, the biopic leaves out information about Dylan’s early life and family. We know next to nothing about the singer’s life before he arrived in New York, besides his birth name, which Sylvie discovers.

It also leaves out Carla, Suze Rotolo’s sister, who didn’t like Dylan, as well as the tension Dylan had with Rotolo’s family and Rotolo’s abortion, and Dylan being interested in Baez’s sister before the musical pair became romantic. Interestingly, A Complete Unknown removes Sara Lownds, Dylan’s first wife, from the film entirely. By 1965, Lownds and Dylan were not only married but expecting their first child together. The film suggests that Sylvie (Suze) attended the 1965 Newport Folk Festival with Dylan, but they had broken up a year prior.

A Complete Unknown adds in things that may not have happened or didn’t happen in the way they were depicted onscreen, like Johnny Cash being at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival or Dylan and Baez’s onstage argument before the former walks off (which allegedly never happened). The film changes the circumstances of Dylan’s first meeting with Seeger and Guthrie — it wasn’t at the hospital where Guthrie was a patient — while leaving out the friend who accompanied Dylan to New York. Even someone shouting “Judas!” at Dylan during the Newport Folk Festival happened at a different event in England.

Why James Mangold’s Biopic Only Focuses On Bob Dylan’s Career In The 1960s

The Movie Highlights A Key Time In Dylan’s Career

Bob Dylan was one of the most well-known voices of his generation and no more so was he a prominent figure than in the 1960s, when his music made a significant impact — from protest songs to his shift to rock. Dylan’s early career and life in the public eye — as is the case with most popular artists — is one of his most remembered. The fact that the 60s brought Dylan’s dynamic career amid societal shifts, protests, and anti-war movements is likely what struck Mangold.

A Complete Unknown being loosely based on Elijah Wald’s book, which highlights the Newport Folk Festival and Dylan going electric, is a draw for the film’s focus. Dylan’s 1965 performance is a legendary night and Mangold used it to build tension. With a focus on just one decade of Dylan’s life, A Complete Unknown was able to hone in on the musician’s success and relationships that shaped his early years. It was a period where the singer was truly finding his voice, making it an engaging focal point and entry into Dylan’s world.

The Real Meaning Of A Complete Unknown’s Ending

The Ending Highlights Dylan’s Mᴀssive Influence

A Complete Unknown follows the musician at various stages of being unknown. At the start, he’s literally a “complete unknown,” but that changes as he begins performing in folk venues, at festivals, and with Joan Baez. However, by the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Dylan’s transition from being unknown to well-known was complete, as his foray into rock had a huge impact on the genre moving forward. His fame was already growing, but Dylan’s move to explore more than just folk music solidified him as a musical legend. The ending showed his effect on audiences while maintaining a sense of mystery.

How A Complete Unknown’s Ending Was Received

The Movie’s Ending Showcases The “Unknown” Quality Of Dylan

A Complete Unknown was hailed as one of the best movies of the year by many critics, leading to its eight Oscar nominations. Along with Timothée Chalamet’s lead performance, a lot of the praise has been towards the film’s more unique approach to a biopic and its subject. This is something that is highlighted in the movie’s ending. Many critics felt that the film’s ending purposely left things vague about Bob Dylan and certain motivations, only to make him a more interesting character (via RogerEbert.com):

Why did he insist on going electric at Newport in 1965, one of the most famous events in folk music history, and where this chapter in Dylan’s life climaxes? Just because they told him not to?

This vagueness around Dylan was highlighted in many of the reviews of the movie. As A Complete Unknown comes to an end, the audience might not have a strong grasp on who Bob Dylan was, but as the тιтle alludes to, that was sort of the point of the biopic. A review at Vulture suggests that the movie’s ending cements the idea that this is a story about Dylan as seen by the people around him, thus leaving him somewhat mysterious:

A Complete Unknown doesn’t attempt to offer up a solution to the enigma that is Bob Dylan. It does something more achievable — shows us what it’s like to bob around the wake of greatness.