This film is about two men, one who became famous (that's Shepard!) and one who wasn't famous (that's his friend Joynny Dark) and their friendship which spanned over 40 years. During the span of time of their friendship, they lived together, lived apart and wrote many letters to each other. This film includes their photos, film footage, letters and their storytelling about themselves and their lives.
Included in this film, you'll also see clips of their partners: O-Lan Jones, Jessica Lange and Scarlett Jones and children.
BTW, if you get to watch the DVD, you get to enjoy some great extras!
Some quotes from this film:
"We're so different from each other. How can we be friends for so many years and be so different? And then I realized what it is is that we complement each other. You know, it's not that you need to be the same, it's just that you need to fit in some weird way."---Johnny Dark
"....I was thinking, boy, I would never want to be a famous person. You know, I just thought, I don't have what it takes and it doesn't seem like it would be enjoyable. But what does seem to be enjoyable is to be like the best friend of a famous person, so you can sort of come and go, you know. You could just take some of the benefits of being around a famous person and then leave and not have to drag it with you."---Johnny Dark
"John and me have known each other since 1963. 47 years. It's kind of miraculous. You don't know why it is you're continually coming back to this person or this person's coming back to you. You know, why is it that there's this thing going on, you know, over time. Over a lifetime."---Sam Shepard
"With friendships, you're encountering what you'd maybe call moods or sides of a person. And you like some sides, but you don't like all the sides. You know them for a long time in a certain way and then all of a sudden these things start getting revealed that are really difficult. You know once we were at a movie premiere and this woman came over and she said "Sam!" And she was talking to Sam and then she asked who I was and he introduced me as his bodyguard. Well, it's like you're hired. He's introducing you as someone that belongs to him that he's paying for. I got the impression that Sam thought I wasn't appreciative enough. I think he probably has a tendency to equate appreciativeness with obedience. You know I was having a relationship with him for years and years before I realized that the relationship we were having was always on his stage. All the things we do, we usually end up doing in a way that he wants to do it or where he wants to go. And I always thought it was because he just cared more deeply than I did. I feel like he's suffering, you know and I feel like helpless. I just experience him as being lost. Scarlett used to always say he's very lost. And that's kind of sad in a way. And that doesn't mean he's always like that. Sometimes he's in really great high spirits. But I think he has a really rough time of it. I think he has a much rougher time of it than I do."---Johnny Dark about Sam
"I can't do this right now."---Sam Shepard as he's reading one of his old letters to Johnny.
"I like solitude but I also like companionship, you know. But I think that somewhere in between there, is where the modern dilemma is, you know. the dilemma about the dilemma between men and women is this thing of craving solitude on the one hand and also craving companionship and how to make a balance between the two. It would be great to be able to make a balance. Whether it's possible I don't know."---Sam Shepard
"I have nothing against relationships. I think they're fantastic and they're deep, but they can also protect you in a certain way from this vulnerability toward your aloneness.They can kind of build a smokescreen between you and the fire that's causing your work to happen. You don't go at the thing that you're meant to go at, that you know you're destined for, you know.
"I find destiny and fate far more plausible than all this psychological stuff."---Sam Shepard
Also from this film:
7 Things I Learned From You:
#1 Eat whenever the f*** you feel like it.
#2 ...even if it's 5 minutes before dinner.
#3 Have 3 bites and pack your plate away.
#4 Try to get someone else to wash your underwear.
#5 Keep driving even if you forget where you're going.
#6 Never stay more than 30 seconds once you realize you don't wanna be there.
#7 Spend all your money and then get some more.
Here are some scenes from this film:
The official trailer for this film:
