Sam Shepard's "True West" - 1984 (John Malkovich and Gary Sinise)

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  • Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
  • Originally aired on PBS January 1984. Starring John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Sam Schact, and Margaret Thomson. Directed by Allan Goldstein. Produced by Howard K. Grossman and John H. Williams. Copyright © 1983 True West Video Productions.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 123

  • @austinsmith538
    @austinsmith538 2 роки тому +37

    THERE"S GONNA BE A GENERAL LACK OF TOAST IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

    • @zetetick395
      @zetetick395 4 місяці тому

      ....WTF happened to _our toaster??_ ??
      👌🤣

  • @Bookworm-ye9qi
    @Bookworm-ye9qi 11 місяців тому +12

    Damn. Malchovich is just amazing. He's from another planet.

  • @DumpsterFire2048
    @DumpsterFire2048 2 роки тому +27

    The history of Sinise and Malkovich with their theater company is amazing.

  • @mrsblue3011
    @mrsblue3011 3 роки тому +31

    This is hands down the best televised version of True West. Malkovich is pure genius.

  • @astraluna6is9
    @astraluna6is9 6 місяців тому +4

    Between 88’ and 91’ my girl was a graduate student at ASU in the Theater Department going for her degree in teaching. Her thesis was on Sam Shepards play ‘Buried Child’ and she chose to direct this sick and disturbed and accurate play as well, at the Lyceum Theatre on campus for four nights. I was tasked, (and honored) with designing the music for this gig cuz I was a local Tempe musician anyway.
    It was a triumph unparalleled by student or professor. It truly was an amazing assault on the senses by Sam Shepard delivered through the mind of a truly disturbed, level 7 mind. Genius type shit ya know?
    Now, I remembered Sam Shepard from ‘ The Right Stuff’ which is some years earlier. Never had a second thought other than him being in the Holy Modal Rounders. Anyway, my girl had this VHS tape of ‘True West’ that I overlooked in her collection for quite a long time. Finally, I was bored as fuck on some random Saturday, so I decided to check it out.
    The alcoholism. The hand down the pants. The thievery. The mindfucking. The jealousy. The fact that we turn out just like our parents. And back then, that was still a fresh concept.
    So this play, this playwright, and this particular stage production made for tv, well,
    it’s been a staple in my collection for over 30 years ever since. 😵‍💫🇺🇸😵‍💫

  • @Katianie9
    @Katianie9 3 роки тому +58

    Possibly the greatest performance of a play ever, you can not beat this. The character of Lee and John Malkovitch's portrayal is the main inspiration behind Trevor in Grand Theft Auto V.

    • @ObviouslySteve
      @ObviouslySteve 2 роки тому +5

      I can definitely see that, the characters are super similar in looks and mannerisms. But do you have a source on this? I looked it up and couldn't find anything.

    • @jasoncharles8651
      @jasoncharles8651 Рік тому

      Yep, you got it.

    • @zetetick395
      @zetetick395 4 місяці тому +1

      Yeah,
      I totally agree that there's the seed of Trevor in Lee (not just the 'desert rat' persona - and the HAIR, of course!)
      - (You can really tell that Rockstar are lifelong lovers / worshippers of cinema - it's in everything they put out, and they just get better and better at it, imo......I wonder if they have a screening room, for their design staff?.......They definitely seem to 'get' movies, in a way no other company in their industry does)

  • @edcatt9196
    @edcatt9196 Рік тому +8

    I saw this one afternoon when I was picking up a friend to go somewhere else, but I couldn't walk away from the play. It was mesmerizing. I'd never seen either actor before, nor did I know who Sam Shepard was. But I started seeing more of his plays, and movies, and the same for Malkovich and Sinise. This was both frightening to watch, and hypnotic at the same time.

  • @yourchef1
    @yourchef1 Рік тому +9

    Brilliant. I love how both descend into childish behavior together and actually switch dynamics. Two amazing actors and a genius playwright.

  • @dallassteinback2873
    @dallassteinback2873 7 місяців тому +5

    This was amazing to see again!!! Thanks for putting it up here. Back before the good old collage days I was only familiar with Shakespeare, and the real oldies. And then came Shepard's works through Art History. Lost my mind over the personal connection of growing up in the vast Mojave Desert of California; let alone the toxic relationships that is shared though out each of the character's in this story, including the father we never meet. Still can't believe why P.B.S. won't release it in HD. Gary & John are so damn good.

  • @jameswillis1742
    @jameswillis1742 Рік тому +4

    i saw this when i was a senior in h.s. '86. brings back good memories ty for posting this

  • @fuferito
    @fuferito 4 роки тому +25

    Gary Sinese and John Malkovic do good work together.
    They are both so great in _Of Mice and Men._

  • @Jantonov1
    @Jantonov1 4 роки тому +34

    "You are gonna sit there and tell me that you got 10 Melanie Furgisons in Bakersfield?!"

  • @skycladguru6256
    @skycladguru6256 3 роки тому +10

    “I’m on intimate terms with this prairie.”

    • @astraluna6is9
      @astraluna6is9 6 місяців тому +4

      Fucking brilliant isn’t it?

  • @pietrusso
    @pietrusso Рік тому +5

    these guys are just mesmerising to watch

  • @gort162
    @gort162 4 місяці тому +2

    Boy it's a shame we can't get a better recording of this. One of the all-time best plays and so brilliantly acted by John Malkovich. Somebody somewhere must have the original recording. Please remaster it and release it on DVD or Blu-ray.

  • @wincubs1
    @wincubs1 4 роки тому +32

    Thank you for posting. John Malkovich and Gary Sinese early on!! And sam shepherd was a genius!❤

    • @TastySurrealBowl
      @TastySurrealBowl  4 роки тому +6

      It's a classic. "There's gonna be a general lack of toast in the neighborhood this morning!"

    • @wincubs1
      @wincubs1 4 роки тому

      @@TastySurrealBowl so many great lines

  • @panheaddragonwolfpaw
    @panheaddragonwolfpaw 3 роки тому +9

    As a man with a brother, this is too relatable

  • @lmmmusic1
    @lmmmusic1 2 роки тому +20

    I saw this on our PBS station when it debuted. Both actors went on to exceptional careers.. It was my husband’s favorite play. I purchased the video for him. I wish there was a better copy but….pleased to have found this - Shepard told a great story.

    • @martitinkovich4489
      @martitinkovich4489 2 роки тому

      True for Malkovich, but Sinise's career can hardly be called "exceptional".

    • @astraluna6is9
      @astraluna6is9 6 місяців тому

      @@martitinkovich4489Sinise is a legend. Plain n simple.

  • @youngTatLawson
    @youngTatLawson 9 місяців тому +1

    Watched this with my mom 25 yrs ago on channel 17 Houston public access and I still remember it to this day. These two are at the top of their game in this. Luv ya, ma!!

  • @zetetick395
    @zetetick395 4 місяці тому +2

    Gary Sinise is on fire in this,
    the way he collapses from a clung-to, fragile idea of himself into manic shrieking hysteria is incredible, and feels authentic.
    ....So hard to go THIS BIG in a performance without it becoming cartoonish......Sinise keeps it real. Human. Genuinely amazing craft.
    He's still trying to pull his brother down even as he's falling apart himself - Seeing his bro as 'less than' is the only control he has in his life.

  • @ziblot1235
    @ziblot1235 4 роки тому +17

    This is the best version. I had downloaded it before in pieces, Glad to see it all hooked up. So funny, and so true!!(I have a brother, unfortunately Im the Malkovitch brother)

    • @nopurpleshelves
      @nopurpleshelves 2 роки тому +4

      Thankfully, according to the plot, you will eventually become the Sinese brother.

  • @bennythargrave
    @bennythargrave 5 років тому +14

    Such a great duo!

  • @aaronwimberleymbamsf5776
    @aaronwimberleymbamsf5776 4 роки тому +10

    Rest in peace Sam Shepard

  • @Tabletop_Epics
    @Tabletop_Epics 3 роки тому +11

    I first saw this in my freshman year of college, in an Intro to Theater Arts course. It blew me away. It made the rest of 2003 a magical period of writing and researching Sam Shepard and various other modern playwrights.

    • @disiers7408
      @disiers7408 3 роки тому

      Me too, I need to watch again.

    • @chrisbullard5901
      @chrisbullard5901 2 роки тому

      I also saw this in an Intro to Theatre class in 2005. Sadly, I can’t watch it for too long, because it hits too close to people I know.

  • @JoshuaTreeWorkshopsVideos
    @JoshuaTreeWorkshopsVideos Рік тому +4

    Sam Shepard wrote is as the two sides of his personality.

  • @lennygrossman-actor
    @lennygrossman-actor 2 роки тому +18

    I wish they would renew this with good 4K specs. This looks terrible and it deserves so much better. This show is brilliant!!

    • @brokenfever
      @brokenfever 2 роки тому +1

      The directing is fine... the cinematography is poor.

    • @babasheeny3634
      @babasheeny3634 2 роки тому +1

      @@brokenfever to say the least!

    • @janestewart9608
      @janestewart9608 2 роки тому +2

      I believe this was filmed with videotape? Not really possible to get true 4k from even high-end early '80s tape

    • @babasheeny3634
      @babasheeny3634 2 роки тому +2

      @@janestewart9608 👌Sam Shepard was briliiant.

    • @MartinMargulis
      @MartinMargulis Рік тому

      The video quality is very disappointing and the closed captions are computer generated and often wrong. Despite these problems I am determined to finish viewing the complete youtube!

  • @completeMonti
    @completeMonti Рік тому +2

    When PBS first aired this, I saw a short trailer for it the week before. I'd not yet heard of Malkovich or Sinise. At a glance, watching the trailer and not knowing any better, I thought maybe it was Max Gail and Howie Mandel. And I thought "that might be interesting." And then the next week I watched this and it changed my world.

  • @snapmyneck8818
    @snapmyneck8818 4 роки тому +11

    The Of Mice and Men duo, back together again!

    • @mikedowns8293
      @mikedowns8293 4 роки тому +3

      This was b4 they made Steinbeck's Of Mice & Men ('92)

    • @sifugurusensei
      @sifugurusensei 3 роки тому +1

      They founded Steppenwolf theatre

  • @TastySurrealBowl
    @TastySurrealBowl  5 місяців тому

    Rewatching this over the years I’m still amazed that PBS let an F-bomb get through when they aired this in 1984 - but it’s so satisfying to know they did.

  • @oliviergregorysmuth9969
    @oliviergregorysmuth9969 Рік тому +1

    Amazing energy

  • @robfrancis8690
    @robfrancis8690 5 років тому +7

    I love Sam Schacht in this, and he happens to be a fantastic acting teacher too.

  • @marcallencastro7789
    @marcallencastro7789 4 роки тому +5

    Finally this is back!!! Stay on UA-cam please!!!!

  • @devonloconte
    @devonloconte 5 місяців тому +1

    amazing

  • @waylonjenninz
    @waylonjenninz 3 роки тому +5

    So, so many great lines.

    • @youngTatLawson
      @youngTatLawson 9 місяців тому +1

      So go to church, why don't you, then??

    • @waylonjenninz
      @waylonjenninz 9 місяців тому +1

      @@youngTatLawson GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE, WILL YA???

  • @dokkenrox
    @dokkenrox 4 роки тому +14

    3:21 "Never mind what I did. Just never mind about that.... (long, awkward pause) It was ahead of it's time." :D

    • @goldbug7127
      @goldbug7127 2 роки тому +1

      This is an awesome play and production, but the use of the 'long, awkward pause" was pioneered by Harold Pinter in the 1950's. His "comedies of menace" , along with Samuel Beckett's "tragi-comedies" revolutionized theatre. Indeed, this play by Sam Shepard could be described as Pinteresque, as is the long, awkward pause.

    • @AMEER-114-
      @AMEER-114- Рік тому

      @KunstKrieg KinoPix Studios you'd do well to mention the writer as you mention the title.

    • @astraluna6is9
      @astraluna6is9 6 місяців тому

      @@goldbug7127Excellent insight goldbug. Just picked up some Pinter from Half Price Books.

  • @skycladguru6256
    @skycladguru6256 6 місяців тому +1

    Last night I had a bunch of major cooking messes in the kitchen, ending with a huge spilled mess inside the fridge that had me on the floor with half the contents pulled out of the fridge around me, scrubbing the inside of the fridge and shouting, “This is the last time that I try to live with people, Boy!!!” and totally cracking myself up. My wife was like “What the?!…” and I just laughed and said, “True West.” 01:18:14 😂 - “This would never have happened out on the desert!”

  • @MrFiveeasypieces
    @MrFiveeasypieces 4 роки тому +8

    Legendary production of Shepard's play. I wish they've done taped version of 1977 show of Mamet's American Buffalo too with Robert Duvall, John Savage and Kenneth McMillan.

  • @steviewax
    @steviewax 9 місяців тому

    I wonder if I would really want to witness such bizarre representations of character that combine brute violence with high flung intellectualism and art. Yet the acting is so well done, the dialogue and actions all within one room very dramatically placed, that I was instilled with fear and wonder at human nature.

  • @brokenfever
    @brokenfever 2 роки тому +2

    Brilliant!...

    • @brokenfever
      @brokenfever 2 роки тому +2

      Watched this live... best play ever. Saul is clueless...

  • @HeyLookAtTheMoon
    @HeyLookAtTheMoon 4 роки тому +4

    So dark, so good

  • @YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen
    @YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen 2 роки тому +5

    Brother A is a serious, play-by-the-book scriptwriter who has struggled long and hard to find success. Brother B is a free-willed ne'er-do-well who is totally inexperienced in scriptwriting--or in anything to do with writing or the film industry.
    Brother B comes along with a script idea that Brother A berates as garbage. But the idea immediately finds enthusiastic acceptance when it is presented to someone in a position to promote it.
    A total kick in the teeth to Brother A.
    This scenario was used in 2002's "Adaptation," written by Charlie Kaufman. I wonder if Kaufman got the idea from "True West."

  • @garykaplan7611
    @garykaplan7611 3 місяці тому +1

    I couldn't't take the boredom and bailed out at 8 minutes. No story to it.

  • @KatesFree
    @KatesFree 2 роки тому +4

    I don't know why the violence made me laugh; I had some kind of reaction to it, because it reminded me of the kind of violence there was in my home: Dad would drink and beat up Mom, and my oldest brother would fight with my sister, and my other older brother would fight with me.

  • @KatJNW
    @KatJNW 9 місяців тому +2

    Didn't know that!!! 👁 Sam Shepard was actually murdered (True Crime).
    Took me a little 2 get used to the Malkovich's rolling on the floor tryin 2 kill 1-another 😅
    I like Malkovich much better in Eragon (3 series in the Dragon Riders) & a few others I have on DVD.
    This copy is rather murkey (cloudy/unclear) and dark (can't C characters faces, like they're in the dark w/not enough lighting on this Android 📱mobile).
    Do wish 2 say ThnX though as there was CC 4 us old people w/bad ears.
    ThnX 4 upload🌹

  • @actionhotdog7211
    @actionhotdog7211 10 місяців тому +1

    Toast IS like salvation.

  • @user-fs3bk8bs6b
    @user-fs3bk8bs6b 4 роки тому +1

    We did this one in high school. Local school production. Although I played Lee in the production, I hated his narcissism back then as I do now. Great writing by G S

  • @drakewarner1230
    @drakewarner1230 4 роки тому +11

    And to think this is their mothers house they’re destroying

  • @curtiscarpenter9881
    @curtiscarpenter9881 2 роки тому +3

    Is anybody out there?

  • @GoodmanMIke59
    @GoodmanMIke59 6 місяців тому

    I've done 14 professional theater productions at $200 a piece. That was back in the 80s, 90s when I wanted to do character analysis about fvkked up people. Now that I'm 65? I value wholesome attitudes, peace and quiet

  • @connortracey4536
    @connortracey4536 Рік тому +3

    John Malkovichs speaking voice in this is so soft and almost feminine in this but when he screams he sounds like an absolute barbarian

  • @jojolostie
    @jojolostie 3 місяці тому +2

    Yeah, well personally I don't wann' be invaded by Idaho when I'm eatin'. When I'm eatin' I'm home. Ya' know what I'm sayin'? I'm not driftin', I'm home. I don't need my thoughts swept off to Idaho. I don't need that!

  • @Wayzor_
    @Wayzor_ 2 роки тому +2

    Peter Dinklage brought me here via the WTF Podcast.

    • @TastySurrealBowl
      @TastySurrealBowl  2 роки тому

      Just listened to that WTF after reading your comment. Thanks for the tip! Loved hearing that the scene about the toast always filled the theater with the smell of toast! That’s always been one of my favorite scenes. Never occurred to me that they actually made a bunch of toast in the theater.

  • @mehmetfatihdemirel4280
    @mehmetfatihdemirel4280 4 роки тому

    @TastySurrealBowl thank you so much.The great performance Malkovich and Sinise...but I know Gary Sinice.He's a good players. Come back to your again new Theatral videos.Bye...

  • @HallofWisdom
    @HallofWisdom 6 місяців тому

    --- 1:14:13 *they edited the cussing out ! ** I saw this on PBS when it aired, really made an impression on me. my sister and I still quote this movie --- 14FEB24

  • @jjmanzano9
    @jjmanzano9 Рік тому

    Just heard about this from the Rob Lowe podcast

  • @mikeycalta7625
    @mikeycalta7625 3 місяці тому

    1984, Johnny boy "now we are cooking" based memer confirmed

  • @zetetick395
    @zetetick395 4 місяці тому

    That dog got killed because Lee had ideas about "Big Money in Fightin' put it in a fight, and it just got ruined, as it had no training and was just a stray, lost in the desert.
    - You can *see the moment* Lee's own endless inner-dialogue bullshit runs out, and on his face,
    for one solitary moment, his face is full of realization and regret about losing his 'little dog' - Just one moment of real, sane Lee. @ 37:12
    - Great acting between these two in this, I mean really rare-great.

  • @adamcagle1087
    @adamcagle1087 5 років тому +17

    Acting, "101"

  • @ge-21express34
    @ge-21express34 3 роки тому +1

    I wonder if Lee's "ha ha aaaahhh" was the predecessor to today's " hello ooohhh"?

  • @patriciajoewilliams8680
    @patriciajoewilliams8680 2 роки тому

    Too Real, I say!!!

  • @HugoGutierrez-r8y
    @HugoGutierrez-r8y 4 дні тому

    Duarte!

  • @gvines
    @gvines 2 роки тому

    Drew Conway where are you brother?

  • @timmundorff2354
    @timmundorff2354 4 роки тому

    Plates and spoons.

  • @millennialthatplaysfortnit4608
    @millennialthatplaysfortnit4608 3 роки тому +1

    He is just Trevor from GTA LOL

  • @HeyLookAtTheMoon
    @HeyLookAtTheMoon 5 років тому +2

    I have the vhs

  • @ginomazzei1076
    @ginomazzei1076 Рік тому

    Shot with a Vaseline lens

  • @sifugurusensei
    @sifugurusensei 3 роки тому +4

    I read the play and it's weird. Sam had probably been snorting some shit.

    • @sifugurusensei
      @sifugurusensei 3 роки тому +2

      I did this in an acting class. Watching this, things started to make sense.

  • @pleasedontdestroythiseither

    62

  • @babasheeny3634
    @babasheeny3634 2 роки тому

    Was this filmed in the dark??? 🤣

  • @vincentortiz8799
    @vincentortiz8799 11 місяців тому

    Good stuff...but I'm parcial, to these two in "Of mice and men"..nothing withstanding, Lon Chaney Jr and Burgess Meredith were in a class of their own..👍

  • @jivanvasant
    @jivanvasant 2 роки тому +1

    CLICHÉ - FALSE WEST/EAST DICHOTOMY
    [1:40:48] Lee, who severely attacked Austin over the cliché phrase "Like the back of my hand", later says to his mother: "I was sweating like a pig."
    Sibling rivalry borne of childhood neglect (absent alcoholic father) and abuse (parents) that results in two emotionally disturbed brothers who fight on physical, intellectual and emotional levels to dominate the other in a dynamic equilibrium like a teeter-totter (seesaw) where the fulcrum eccentrically moves left and right and back again repeatedly to shift the mechanical/psychological advantage back and forth between Lee and Austin. As they negotiate a deal for sharing credit, money, status, power and control and then continuously renegotiate their deal while inebriated, they are oblivious to their absurd, even comical, doomed relationship. They are a microcosm of so-called society, culture and civilization, where everybody wears a protective mask persona.

  • @JarodRebuck
    @JarodRebuck 3 роки тому +1

    Ed Wood would’ve been proud

    • @rathodkaran6190
      @rathodkaran6190 2 роки тому

      Wait what do you mean? I love the film ed wood so i must know what you mean.

  • @dubz2fah
    @dubz2fah 17 днів тому +1

    Love steppenwolf… But hot take… This is awful. Zero specificity in choices. Just hitting each other.

  • @dantean
    @dantean 4 роки тому +7

    I've never numbered myself among the Malkovich-haters but he sure makes it hard, doesn't he?! Yikes!

  • @ncrtrooper6372
    @ncrtrooper6372 Рік тому

    42:52

  • @yummyyum6294
    @yummyyum6294 2 роки тому

    32:00

  • @lilya9644
    @lilya9644 4 роки тому

    26:43

  • @tiara2405
    @tiara2405 6 місяців тому

    .

  • @Quakerman14
    @Quakerman14 4 роки тому +1

    1:27:14

  • @fredcrown-tamir698
    @fredcrown-tamir698 3 місяці тому

    Film quality poor.

    • @TastySurrealBowl
      @TastySurrealBowl  3 місяці тому

      Upload was made from a VHS recording of a 1984 TV broadcast. Audio is good, hopefully the play is compelling enough to overlook the low video quality 📺

  • @terinapenninger6672
    @terinapenninger6672 13 днів тому

    WTF !
    THERE'S NO DIALOGUE , THE STORY AND ACTING STINKS

  • @richardhowe5583
    @richardhowe5583 3 роки тому +1

    Why would anyone want to watch a second-rate blurry movie?

    • @timmcinnes2594
      @timmcinnes2594 2 роки тому +12

      Because the acting and the story are great! Can't you see past the shitty technology?

    • @brokenfever
      @brokenfever 2 роки тому +5

      @@timmcinnes2594 it's a compelling play... to the point of being classic.

    • @weinersmalls5684
      @weinersmalls5684 2 роки тому +6

      it's the dialogue Richard.

    • @AMEER-114-
      @AMEER-114- Рік тому +2

      Because some people arent idiots conditioned into a false idea of what has value soley based on visual clarity.

    • @richardhowe5583
      @richardhowe5583 Рік тому

      @@AMEER-114- do you know how people get tongue-tied? Well, that statement brain-tied me😱😱 hehehe 👍👌😎🤗