True Stories Blu-Ray

David Byrne's exuberant musical road trip through Texas, in a Blu-ray edition with the entire soundtrack on CD. Music icon David Byrne was inspired by tabloid headlines to make this, his only attempt at feature film directing, an ode to the extraordinary in ordinary American life and a distillation of what was in his own idiosyncratic mind. Byrne plays a visitor to Virgil, Texas, who introduces us to the town's residents as they prepare for their Celebration of Specialness. Filmed by Ed Lachman, Texas becomes a hyper-realistic late-capitalist landscape with endless vistas, shopping malls, and prefabricated metal buildings. In True Stories, Byrne uses his lenses to weave together pop iconography, voodoo rituals, and a unique variety show—all with the aim of revealing the rich mysteries that lurk beneath the surface of everyday life.

 

 

DIRECTOR'S APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION

 

 

New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director David Byrne and cinematographer Ed Lachman, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, supervised by Byrne

New documentary about the film's production, featuring members of the cast and crew

CD with 23 tracks, 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 filmed on location.

No Time to Look Back, a new tribute to Virgil, Texas, the fictional town where True Stories is set.

New program about designer Tibor Kalman and his influence on Byrne and role in the film, featuring Byrne and Kalman's wife, artist Maira Kalman.

Deleted scenes.

Trailer.

PLUS: An essay by critic Rebecca Bengal, along with new articles by journalist and author Joe Nick Patoski and Byrne, a 1986 article by actor Spalding Gray about the film's production, some of the tabloid articles that inspired the film, and a selection of Byrne's pre-production photographs and writings on the film's visual motifs.