Too much of everything

Simply A Masterpiece

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The original tag line of "True Stories" was: "It's a completely cool, multi-purpose movie." Yes it really is. Directed and written by David Byrne (singer, writer, composer, a multi-talented person), this movie is an surprising and uplifting story about Virgil, a fictional Texas city that are celebrating the state's sesquicentennial year. Byrne is the nameless narrator of "True Stories", and here he presents us all kinds of characters, including the lovely Lewis Fyne (John Goodman, very good) a bachelor who wants desperately to get married even knowing that his appearance isn't what most women wants; the Culver family led by the most influential business man of the city, the odd, funny and controlling Earl Culver (Spalding Gray) among many other persons.Both in his musical works and in the case of this movie, Byrne puts very forms of speeches, as may seem throughout "True Stories". It's not just an ordinary comedy, it has something more powerful between it. He made statements over the unbridled consumerism (well noticed in the lyrics of "Wild Wild Life" and in the video of "Love for sale", where a sitting woman and a walking employee robot, watches a video clip showing that everything and everybody's out for sale). Those moments might seen an attack to some viewers and probably many will find that these scenes has nothing to do with the movie. Wrong. It is just a way to show many aspects of real life, after all we're talking about possible true people but in a funny way. It is not pointing to the people like a character judgment. Instead of that, Byrne and the writers (the actor Stephen Tobolowsky is one of them) shows us many levels of the society's stereotypes (the funny guy, the simple people and the rich people, and their events). But there's a sense of union, everybody likes each other in the movie, people go to clubs and shopping malls, sing songs, go to the big parade honoring the city and their special figures. Everything is likable. Perhaps in a deep view you'll find that something's wrong.It's like Altman's "Nashville" but with less characters and more funny, and it's like "This is Spinal Tap", (both stories are showed in a documentary style) but Byrne's film is far more complex, very much like an art film filled with cultural references. This is one more of the most positive and underrated films I ever seen and I think it was made way ahead of its time. One of those to be watched again and again. If you're a Talking Heads fan you'll enjoy the songs played in the movie and sing along (Wild Wild Life is my favorite moment). If you're not a fan or don't know Talking Heads, well here's a great invitation to meet them. It's very cool and fun to watch! 10/10

The first time I saw True Stories, I was 16 years old and some what of a Talking Heads fan. I thought the movie was goofy but funny. I only watched True Stories once then. After hearing my teen playing Wild, Wild, Life, I thought about looking for the sound track again, (Had the True Stories sound track on vinyl when it first came out). I just bought the DVD and watched it with my kids (14) & (8). I about died when I saw the gas prices . The old commercials are great too. The walk through the shopping mall reveals the old Gap logo and other stores still around and some that have gone. True Stories is a short step back in time for me, and my kids love it because it is so quirky. It is a movie that isn't violent or vulgar, and yet, weird enough for you to have to pay attention to get all of it. Very clever movie. Love it!

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 ...

True stories, while considered a comedy, should not be limited by that role.It is of course a comedy, but it is really so much more, because, as the film claims, it is a 'multi-purpous' movie.To fully understand this film's meaning, we first have to first look at what this film is about. A bunch of people living in Virgil, Texas. It is important to note this because this film is not about the place, as it is about the people who live in that place, for, really, what is a city without people?True Stories examines one man in particular amongst all the others. Louis Fyne, or Louis the Bear. Louis is the quintessential common man in all of his glory. He is not a real man, but a symbolic character, much as everything else in this film, and it is his own stark conveyance of his personality which allows us to say, 'yeah, I know how he feels,' because deep down inside, we all want what Louis wants, and that, of course, is love.Swoosie Kurtz, as the lazing Miss Rollings, represents another typical American feature. Materialism. Miss Rollings, despite her enormous wealth is not content, and hence her appetite for consumption, she too, is looking for love, but does not yet know it. It takes Louis' performance for her to realize that she, too, is lonely.These two characters, Fyne and Rollings, are the main symbolic features of this film. It is there search for fulfillment, and eventual arrival at that fulfillment, which comprises the bulk of the film. This is not to say that they alone are the only symbolics in search of love, for example, the assembly line conversation expresses many different modern views on love, and the many feelings associated with it (bitterness, lust, heartbreak). And also the search for significance and meaning are taken by the 'cute' woman (she cannot bare sadness, and so chooses to ignore it, focusing only on the cute things), and the Lying Woman (who is obviously disappointed by the reality of her life, and so seeks to enrich it, and impress it, by making up for her lacking reality with a rich and vibrant fictional history). However, there is more to this film then just the search for love and significance.There is the Varicorp head (the defacto ruler of Virgil) and his love for business and overall work which shows the corporate obsession in today's America. The line at the dinner table about work and pleasure is merging together is brought home earlier in the film by the varitech tourgide Byrne talks to in the mall of Virgil (he is working on a project at home, for his own pleasure) the trick of the future then is learning how to keep these inventors inside Virgil, and harness their power.This brings us to the technology theme. Technology is a major theme throughout the entire film. We are all trying to use the latest technology to make our lives easier, and fulfill our desires. Louis speaks briefly on a computer dating service he used briefly, and the resulting woes we now frequently associate with such ventures (he ended up with a midget). The Varitech tourguide speaks of computers as a form of expression, like an art.What is truly amazing is how true this observation has really become. No longer is it just the geek building a PC out of a box, or a processor taking up an entire football field, now we have computers everywhere, built into all our facets of life, and many of us feel more comfortable expressing ourselves over a digital medium than our typical tactile method.Structures are also highly symbolic in this film. The multipurpose boxlike structure of vari-corp, the likewise square shape of the stage, the metal buildings, and even the suburban housing developments are all symbolic of the different ways humans have found ways to not only live their dreams out, but mass order them. In True Stories the idea of the house as the platform of the dream is brought forward with amazing clarity. The suburban sprawl exists as the homebase for the modern American worker, and the cultivation of a family (or lack thereof, as doomsday is, after all, right around the corner) is the progression of the individual dream. On a business sense, Byrne looks the possible cheapening of that dream with the construction metal building. Order it out of a catalog, and in a couple of days, maybe a week, it's done. Spirituality and religion is another aspect of this film that deserves observance. Notice the difference between organized religion, and the vague, hazy voodoo christianic faith that are portrayed in this film. What good does the preacher in the church do compared to the work of the witch doctor (if he did indeed do anything at all). Notice that while the Mexican character is the keyboardist for the church, he is also selling the address of the old witch doctor, and that while all the members of Virgil seem to show up at the large church, the witch doctor still gets plenty of business (as is represented by the large amount of photographs in the shrine).Consumerism in a broader sense (more than just materialism) is also apparent in True Stories. Shopping is a Feeling is an excellent portrayal of the consumer American. People are no longer shopping to acquire, but to experience. It is a sort of religious, enriching experience, as people share the shopping feeling with their friends and loved ones.Time is also a major element in True Stories. In speaking of the history of Virgil, Byrne goes all the way back to the days when the area was covered by ocean, and of course, the song, City of Dreams, is a very transcental piece examining the passage of ideas from people to people.Finally we must look at music as a form of communication, possibly the largest aspect of the entire film (and understandable, too, considering that this film is technically a musical), music is taken beyond mere entertainment and portrayed as a way of conveying feeling, emotion, and truth. Louis' highly anticipated song conveys much about his character, as does Dream Operator for wife of the Varicorp head. Every song in True Stories serves a purpose in conveying the nature of a character.In summation, True Stories is a film about America in a microcostic sense. Virgil is America. And we are the special people Virgil is celebrating, because even the most magnificent people don't look that special at first glance. And of course, even though some ideas presented in the film are slightly scary, Byrne makes not opinionated statements. He take everything in, and gives it out, with that same subdued earnestness we have come to expect by the end of the film, and it leaves us wandering, perhaps none of all this is really that bad after all, just different.