WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for A Complete Unknown.
Bob Dylan’s famous New York love interest Sylvie Russo, based on the real-life artist Suze Rotolo, separated from Bob Dylan following the events ofA Complete Unknown. Starring Timothée Chalamet as the legendary folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan,A Complete Unknownwas released in threats on Christmas Day 2024. Thecast ofA Complete Unknownalso features Elle Fanning, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Dan Fogler, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash. While the film is a biopic of the icon’s rise to fame,A Complete Unknownchanges several true story detailsabout Bob Dylan’s real life.
Directed by James Mangold ofFord v. FerrariandLoganacclaim,A Complete Unknownis widely considered one of the best movies of the year. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79% and an audience score of 95%,A Complete Unknownis already in the running for several awards, including three Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Actor for Chalamet, and Best Supporting Actor for Norton. The biopic follows Bob Dylan’s early years when he first arrives in New York and quickly becomes a local legend through the help of Pete Seeger. It also highlights Dylan’s relationship withSylvie Russo – whose real name was Suze Rotolo– and fellow singer/songwriter Joan Baez.
Suze Rotolo’s Life After Breaking Up With Bob Dylan
She traveled to Cuba and married a film editor
Suze Rotolo is the actual person based on Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Russo character inA Complete Unknown. Many of the characteristics of Suze are still present in Fanning’s performance of Sylvie, most significantly that she was an early girlfriend of Bob Dylan’s and was considered to be a source of his inspiration. Suze Rotolo was also an artist herself and was the woman next to Dylan on the cover of his classic 1963 album,The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. She was in a relationship with Dylan until 1964.She was pregnant with Dylan’s child in 1963 but ended up having an abortion, which reportedly greatly affected their relationship.
What Happened To Bob Dylan After A Complete Unknown
Bob Dylan went on to create more great rock music after a nearly decade-long break from touring following the events of A Complete Unknown.
Dylan’s less-than-private affair with Joan Baez was also a major influence on his and Rotolo’s breakup in 1964. Dylan covered their breakup in his song “Ballad in Plain D” which he revealed that he regretted writing many years later. In the song, he writes, “The wind knocks my window, the room it is wet / The words to say I’m sorry I haven’t found yet / I think of her often and hope whoever she’s met / Will be fully aware of how precious she is.“Rotolo traveled to Cuba following her breakup with Dylan in 1964. She married Italian film editor Enzo Bartoccioli with whom she has one son.
Suze Rotolo Died In 2011 From Lung Cancer
She died in her New York home at 67
Suze Rotolo died in 2011 from lung cancer at the age of 67. Throughout the remainder of her life, she was not often willing to open up about her relationship with Dylan, even though she has been asked about him over and over again. It is commonly believed thatRotolo did not wish to have her life be defined through the lens of Bob Dylan, even though, in a way, it had already happened well before her death and was sort of inevitable. As portrayed by Fanning’s Sylvie, Rotolo was a fierce activist and artist in her own light and never felt the need to bask in Dylan’s overpowering spotlight.
A Complete Unknown Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play
The Bob Dylan music biopic, A Complete Unknown, has a soundtrack packed with folk and folk-rock songs by the famous musician and many others.
According toThe Guardian’sobituary on Suze Rotolo, “Rotolo, who has died of lung cancer, aged 67, was destined to become part of the Dylan legend: the girlfriend who inspired some of his finest early songs, including Boots of Spanish Leather, One Too Many Mornings, Tomorrow Is a Long Time and Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” After meeting Dylan, Rotolo “became much more than a passive muse” and “acted as a cultural guide to Dylan, who had arrived in New York a few months earlier from rural Minnesota with a head full of Jack Kerouac and Woody Guthrie.” In this light,it seemed like fate that Dylan and Rotolo met in New York in the early 1960s.
Why A Complete Unknown Changed Suze Rotolo’s Name To Sylvie Russo
Bob Dylan personally requested it
According toDeadline, Bob Dylan personally requested that Suze Rotolo’s name be changed for the sake of the film. Given the complexity and hardship of their relationship, it makes sense that Dylan would choose to pay respect to his famous first New York love. Based on the “Ballad in Plain D” lyrics, there was also some serious friction between Dylan and Rotolo’s family, which likely also had something to do with Dylan’s request for the film. Still,A Complete Unknownwould be inexpressable without Suze Rotolo’s likeness and legacy, which Fanning captures with a poignant grace in the Dylan biopic.
A Complete Unknown
Cast
A Complete Unknown is a biographical movie that follows a young Bob Dylan as he integrates with New York and catches the eye of the folk singers in the area, eventually propelling him into stardom.
