James Mangold explains how ‘Walk the Line’ informed ‘a complete stranger’

One of the undeniable advantages of Searchlight Bob Dylan biopic “A complete stranger» is the sonic, visual and emotional power of his many musical performances – an area in which the director James Mangold has considerable experience, having managed the famous Johnny Cash movie “Walk the Line” in 2005. This film, which earned Reese Witherspoon an Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter, taught Mangold some key lessons that he applied to “A complete stranger” with great effect.

“It definitely gave me the confidence to demand that the actors sing,” Mangold told IndieWire, explaining why he chose to let Timothée Chalamet and the other actors in the film perform their own songs rather than lip-syncing with the original recordings. “It wasn’t necessarily going to be a problem for my actors; They were nervous at first, but they were willing to give it a try. That’s what they do. But there were producers and people at the studio who were like, “What happens if it doesn’t work?” »

The fact that Mangold did the same thing with Witherspoon and Phoenix on “Walk the Line” gave him the right to say it could work, because it had worked before. He also chose to have the actors perform as much of their material as possible live rather than relying on pre-recordings, even though this made his production sound mixer’s job exponentially more difficult. “Pre-recordings don’t really give you much, especially within the confines of folk music,” Mangold said. “The perfection of studio recording is the least interesting aspect, because it’s not even an aspect that was true of real folk music at the time of its creation.”

For Mangold, the beauty of folk music lies not in its technical precision but in the emotional connection it creates with the audience. “It’s all about authenticity and commitment,” he said. “That’s the argument I’ve made from the beginning, that you can’t make a film in a medium built on authenticity when the actors have earwigs in their ears and they pronounce their words like a ventriloquist’s dummy for a pre-recording.

The actors actually pre-recorded their songs (that’s what you’ll hear if you buy the “A Complete Unknown” soundtrack album), and Mangold says it was a valuable exercise just to put them down in the skin of their character. “Going into the studio before going out there to record the recordings was in itself a kind of training,” he said. “It was like the actors were experiencing what Bob or Joan (Baez) or whoever experienced creating an album, and I think it was a huge period of growth for them to suddenly be able to find the voice for the songs.”

However, when it came time to shoot, pre-recordings were ignored and Mangold relied on what he got from the performers singing into the mic on camera, an approach that produced rousing and emotionally charged scenes. complex like the Newport Folk Festival performance which culminates. the movie. “When we got on set, it became an opportunity for the actors to stay free by singing without being slaves to what was being played in their ears,” Mangold said.

The director knew there was always a risk that his way of filming wouldn’t work – and he understands the studio’s reservations about his approach. “All businesses try to eliminate every chance of failure,” he said. “And that’s the madness of making a film. By definition, to do something interesting, you have to engage in an activity that presents a challenge – and therefore presents a risk of failure.

“A Complete Unknown” is in theaters now.