I saw A Complete Unknown three times in theatres last December, and then once more on my phone (not recommended).
The truth is that between Timothee Chalamet’s frequently mumbled dialogue, today’s imperfect on-set dialogue recording tech and the decent but less-than-immaculate sound systems in mainstream theatres today, I never heard each and every line. I heard most of the screenplay, but missed maybe 25% or 30%.
Last night I watched it on Bluray with subtitles, and what a difference! Every previously slurred, half-articulated line was revealed and clarified, and it really bumped up the enjoyment factor. It’s almost like watching an entirely different film. Not to mention the fact that it looks better on Bluray than it did at those various AMCs (two in Manhattan, one in Westport).
I’d still like to know which scene is the fictitious one…the scene that Bob Dylan cooked up…the one that director James Mangold expressed concern about including because it never happened in actuality, in response to which Dylan said “what do you care?…if the scene works, it works.”
