There’s a priceless moment early in “A Complete Unknown” when folk icon Pete Seeger returns to the cabin where he lives with his family after offering a young singer named Bob Dylan a place to sleep for the night. Seeger shows Dylan around the house, proudly displaying the modern amenities of the rustic abode. But when he talks about how the wondrous new composting toilet doesn’t even stink, his kids chime in from the next room: Yes, Dad, it does!
The moment is quintessential Pete Seeger, a man who wore the same gentle smile whether he was leading sing-alongs or facing adversity that included a lengthy period in the 1950s where he was blacklisted after being at the height of his popularity with the folk group The Weavers.