When rock's 'renaissance man' (as he was once heralded by Time magazine ..) David Byrne got the go-ahead to direct and co-write his debut feature film, fans of the quirky Talking Heads front man were naturally curious as to what oddness Mr. Byrne would produce ...
With True Stories, Byrne delivered the kind of ambiguous messages and intellectual stimulate fans had come to associate from his musical offerings - a simple enough tale, centering on fictional Texan town Virgil's quirky inhabitants and their preparations for it's 'Sesquecentenial celebration of special-ness' ... a nice backdrop for some kooky comedy, but is Byrne laughing with, or at Virgil's southern population - is he poking gentle fun at the new-age frontiersmen that constitute the towns occupants, or mercilessly taking the p*ss out of the Virgilians and their barren, pre-fab factory dotted landscape ? Some of the characters on display are fools, yet harmless-enough; 'the Lying Woman' with her outrageously tall tales, 'the Cute Woman' with her love of all things pink, 'the Lazy Woman', so rich that she never *needs* to leave her bed (Byrne : 'Well, wouldn't you ?") and fashion-concussed 'Dancing Fool' Louis Fine, who serves as the movie's main character (sympathetically handled by an amiable John Goodman ). Other characters are slightly edgier, conspiracy theorist/Preacher character, Pops Staples mystical love doctor, and the late Spalding Gray's wonderful town patriach ... Overall the films light feel leads one to believe Byrne's intentions were harmless enough - in fact his character in the film, an out-of-towner narrator dressed in ill-judged cowboy suits, is a nice metaphor for Byrne himself; an odd outsider (Byrne was a Scottish immigrant to the USA as a child) observing an even odder, new environment - the narration itself is often amusing but less often illuminating as to the Byrne's own opinions on what he sees...
Great set-pieces like the ghastly Mall fashion show, Byrne's rather surreal dinner appointment at businessman Mr. Culver's family home, a wonderful detour to a gospel church and the assorted whacky acts performed by Virgil's finest during the parade and evening performance make the film easy to watch, as does the cinematography that successfully captures the vast isolated state of Texas and it's people's often kitsch attempts to tame it. Byrne and his band Talking Heads successfully weave musical numbers throughout the film naturally, without contrivance - the actors sing most of the tunes, Byrne only saves the last number, over the closing credits, for himself... Strangely David Byrne has never directed another film. I believe that if this film had been made 10 years after its initial release, it and Byrne would have been swept up in Indie movie fever; True Stories was a slightly odd film when it first screened, and it's ambiguity puzzled some. A bit like David Byrne himself ... Well worth re-visiting if you've seen it before too ...
With True Stories, Byrne delivered the kind of ambiguous messages and intellectual stimulate fans had come to associate from his musical offerings - a simple enough tale, centering on fictional Texan town Virgil's quirky inhabitants and their preparations for it's 'Sesquecentenial celebration of special-ness' ... a nice backdrop for some kooky comedy, but is Byrne laughing with, or at Virgil's southern population - is he poking gentle fun at the new-age frontiersmen that constitute the towns occupants, or mercilessly taking the p*ss out of the Virgilians and their barren, pre-fab factory dotted landscape ? Some of the characters on display are fools, yet harmless-enough; 'the Lying Woman' with her outrageously tall tales, 'the Cute Woman' with her love of all things pink, 'the Lazy Woman', so rich that she never *needs* to leave her bed (Byrne : 'Well, wouldn't you ?") and fashion-concussed 'Dancing Fool' Louis Fine, who serves as the movie's main character (sympathetically handled by an amiable John Goodman ). Other characters are slightly edgier, conspiracy theorist/Preacher character, Pops Staples mystical love doctor, and the late Spalding Gray's wonderful town patriach ... Overall the films light feel leads one to believe Byrne's intentions were harmless enough - in fact his character in the film, an out-of-towner narrator dressed in ill-judged cowboy suits, is a nice metaphor for Byrne himself; an odd outsider (Byrne was a Scottish immigrant to the USA as a child) observing an even odder, new environment - the narration itself is often amusing but less often illuminating as to the Byrne's own opinions on what he sees...
Great set-pieces like the ghastly Mall fashion show, Byrne's rather surreal dinner appointment at businessman Mr. Culver's family home, a wonderful detour to a gospel church and the assorted whacky acts performed by Virgil's finest during the parade and evening performance make the film easy to watch, as does the cinematography that successfully captures the vast isolated state of Texas and it's people's often kitsch attempts to tame it. Byrne and his band Talking Heads successfully weave musical numbers throughout the film naturally, without contrivance - the actors sing most of the tunes, Byrne only saves the last number, over the closing credits, for himself... Strangely David Byrne has never directed another film. I believe that if this film had been made 10 years after its initial release, it and Byrne would have been swept up in Indie movie fever; True Stories was a slightly odd film when it first screened, and it's ambiguity puzzled some. A bit like David Byrne himself ... Well worth re-visiting if you've seen it before too ...