#951: BYRNE, David: True Stories (1986)
BYRNE, David (United States)
True Stories [1986]
Spine #951
Blu-ray
The Booklet
Twenty-page faux-newspaper featuring essays by critic Rebecca Bengal, journalist and author Joe Nick Patoski, and Bryne; a 1986 piece by actor Spalding Gray on the film’s production; and a selection of production photography, along with Byrne’s tabloid clippings and writing about the film’s visual motifs.
Commentary
None.
Documentary 1
About the film’s production, featuring Byrne, DP Ed Lachman, screenwriter Tobolowsky, executive producer Edward Pressman, coproducer Karen Murphy, fashion-show costumer designer Adelle Lutz, casting director Victoria Thomas, consultant Christina Patoski, actor Jo Harvey Allen, and artist and songwriter Terry Allen.
CD
Containing the film’s complete soundtrack, compiled here for the first time.
Real Life (1986)
A short documentary by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel made on the set of the film.
No Time to Look Back
True Stories [1986]
Spine #951
Blu-ray
Music icon David Byrne was inspired by tabloid headlines to make his sole foray into feature-film directing, an ode to the extraordinariness of ordinary American life and a distillation of what was in his own idiosyncratic mind. The Talking Heads front man plays a visitor to Virgil, Texas, who introduces us to the citizens of the town during preparations for its Celebration of Specialness. As shot by cinematographer Ed Lachman, Texas becomes a hyperrealistic late-capitalist landscape of endless vistas, shopping malls, and prefab metal buildings. In True Stories, Byrne uses his songs to stitch together pop iconography, voodoo rituals, and a singular variety show — all in the service of uncovering the rich mysteries that lurk under the surface of everyday experience.
89 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2018
Director/Writers
Written by Stephen Tobolowsky, Beth Henley, and David Byrne.
Byrne was 34 when he directed True Stories.
The Film
The Film
A
Film Rating (0-60):
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twenty-page faux-newspaper featuring essays by critic Rebecca Bengal, journalist and author Joe Nick Patoski, and Bryne; a 1986 piece by actor Spalding Gray on the film’s production; and a selection of production photography, along with Byrne’s tabloid clippings and writing about the film’s visual motifs.
Commentary
None.
Documentary 1
About the film’s production, featuring Byrne, DP Ed Lachman, screenwriter Tobolowsky, executive producer Edward Pressman, coproducer Karen Murphy, fashion-show costumer designer Adelle Lutz, casting director Victoria Thomas, consultant Christina Patoski, actor Jo Harvey Allen, and artist and songwriter Terry Allen.
CD
Containing the film’s complete soundtrack, compiled here for the first time.
Real Life (1986)
A short documentary by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel made on the set of the film.
No Time to Look Back
An homage to Virgil, Texas, the fictional town where True Stories is set.
Documentary 2
About designer Tibor Kalman and his influence on Byrne and work on the film, featuring Byrne and artist Maira Kalman, Tibor’s widow.
Deleted scenes
Documentary 2
About designer Tibor Kalman and his influence on Byrne and work on the film, featuring Byrne and artist Maira Kalman, Tibor’s widow.
Deleted scenes
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