Is that really Timothée Chalamet singing in the “A Complete Unknown” trailer?

The big picture

• Chalamet’s song
  A complete stranger
  The trailer for s is eerily similar to Bob Dylan’s, enough to excite even the most ardent fans.
• Dylan’s unique singing style was central to his personality, and Chalamet’s performance in the biopic seems to capture that essence perfectly.
• Chalamet’s performance will likely add immense value to the film, following the trend of biopics that aim to balance accuracy and emotion.

The first trailer for A complete stranger it’s here. James Mangoldit’s been long overdue Bob Dylan The biopic is set to tell a crucial piece of American music history, as the young musician rises to prominence and eventually becomes one of the biggest artists of his time. In addition to looking great, the trailer also sounds spectacular. Dylan is played by Timothee Chalametand when he starts singing “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” he sounds exactly like Dylan. It’s so beautiful that people are curious to know if it’s really Chalamet singing.or if Dylan’s voice is used over it. It left even the most hardcore Dylan fans (or Dylanologists, as they call themselves) excited for the film. So is it really Chalamet singing? Or is it just the result of “movie magic”?

Timothée Chalamet sings on “A Complete Unknown”

It is difficult to find someone who was not surprised to hear the singing in the A complete stranger trailer. Not because people doubt Timothée Chalamet’s singing ability or voice; we’ve seen it many times before, from that crazy “Statistics” sketch to the most objective artistic singing in Mr. Wonka. Instead, It was amazing to see such an exceptional replication of Bob Dylan’s iconic voice and styleChalamet has an extraordinary voice, deep and soft at the same time, like that of a young man who has not yet finished growing up. (Homage.)

Chalamet sounds almost identical to Bob Dylan at that particular point in his career. He has the same nasal voice, he stretches out all the same notes that Dylan… And yet, there’s still a hint of Timothée’s voice underneath all this.. Those unfamiliar with his voice might have a hard time pinning it down, but if you know who’s singing, it’s instantly recognizable. The way he sings the S sound in “my blue-eyed son” and other lines on “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” stretching it out a bit, for example, is all Chalamet.

The tone itself, when compared to the studio version of the same song and live performances from that period, is different, as Chalamet’s voice is naturally deeper than Dylan’s. This is where the adaptation part of the act comes in — the voice in the film has yet to sound more like Dylan’s than Chalamet’s, and the actor does it perfectly.It’s not the first time that Timothée Chalamet surprises with his voice. In Dune: Part Twofor example, he projects it in a menacing manner when he uses the Voice and delivers his speech to the Fremen. In Mr. Wonkacreates a musical identity that updates a beloved classic character. Now, in A complete strangermolds and adapts it to Bob Dylan without making it seem like an imitation, which is more than many biopics have bothered to do recently.

Bob Dylan’s voice and singing style are a fundamental part of his personality

Listening to Timothée Chalamet sing alone in A complete stranger and to hit that is a relief, because Bob Dylan is a rather complex character and artist. Some people might even think that Dylan is not much of a singer (yours truly, for example, firmly believes that his songs usually sound better with other people’s voices). His voice is very nasal and in most songs he doesn’t seem to add much range. However, There’s no denying that her singing was part of her appeal in the early 60swhich really made him stand out among the many artists who crowded Greenwich Village at the time.

Dylan has gone through many different phases in his career, and in the early 1960s, when he was on the verge of becoming a phenomenon, he had a unique aura. A young man singing about a world struggling to resist an inevitable wave of change, and the role people would play in it, was almost prophetic. He was already an excellent lyricist by that time, and All his songs have their own narrative, which contributes to his image as a solitary troubadour. His singing, then, wasn’t even supposed to be good, in a way. It wasn’t supposed to be impressive or technically perfect, but, instead, it was supposed to build this idea of ​​Dylan as something more than a singer, something closer to a storyteller.

This makes Timothée Chalamet’s singing even more impressive because It helps him establish the character of Bob Dylan beyond the image people have of himWithout having seen the completed film, it’s difficult to say how well (if at all) Chalamet achieves this goal, but, in a recent Rolling Stone interview, James Mangold confirms that was exactly the goal: “Timmy really takes this character from a 19-year-old kid telling stories about working at the carnival into this person that we recognize as an icon.” If that’s any indication, it seems like he’s done a pretty solid job.

One of the things about Bob Dylan’s singing is that it’s highly imitable. It’s easy to impersonate Dylan for comedic purposes, and he does have some cartoonish mannerisms, but turning it into the subject of a biopic is another thing entirely. It requires a more artistic touch, the secret is to balance the idea that people have of his public persona, the truth that the story is trying to tell and the artistic touch that is unique to his interpreter. When these three factors come together successfully, the actor’s performance becomes invaluable and elevates the entire film.

Not all biopics have actors using their own singing voices

In recent years, many biopics have attempted to achieve this goal, with varying degrees of success. Rocket Manfor example, it gives all the musical numbers a sort of irresistible emotional weight, and this is because Eggerton Conferencepassionate performance. Knows the meaning behind Elton Johnsongs and what emotions the scenes should convey. Accordingly, Rocket Man It’s more than a biopic; it’s a story of burnout and mental health told through the character of Elton John, thanks to the screenplay and Eggerton’s performance. Elton John’s voice is unique, but the film is not about his voice per se, but rather the impact his songs had on his journeyso the actor’s performance must be more intense than technical, and Eggerton manages to find the right balance.

In Elvis, Austin’s Butler He personally performs the songs, although his interpretation Elvis Presley seems more ambiguous because of his approach. People often associate Elvis with his voice, but, For a biopic to work, the character behind the singing has to be bigger than his mannerismsand, while powerful, Butler’s performance is still more interested in emulating Elvis than building him as a character; so much so that he continued to do so even after the film was already released. Of course, there are cases where this is simply impossible. For example, Rami Malek I would never be able to sing like Freddie Mercury In Bohemian Rhapsody (no one would), so voiceover was definitely the way to go. But Malek makes up for it by mimicking Mercury’s expressions and body language, so we barely pay attention to it. However, that film is so flawed that it sometimes feels like a trap, forcing Malek to impersonate Mercury rather than build his own version of the character.

For better or worse, Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan in A complete stranger will undoubtedly be remembered along with the above mentioned ones, but it doesn’t seem that this will be due to problems in his acting. His singing in the trailer is an example of how committed he is to the role.as well as what James Mangold has in mind for how to portray Dylan. Hopefully we’ll get to hear more of Dylan’s classic songs with Timothée’s voice, because if they’re all as good as his rendition of “A Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” they’re all very good.

A complete stranger will hit theaters in December 2024.