Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

- You know there's something unusual about this scene?

What is odd about this scene?

- Holy cow. - This is a deep question.

It's not a quiz question.

It's not hard to solve. Look where we are.

We're at this most spectacular view

overlooking this incredible lake and these mountains,

and yet, strangely,

we're pointed in the direction of the lavatory.

I mean, I don't know

what your view is.

Mine's of three butt ugly cameramen...

- Okay, you are... - And a fuckin' bathroom.

- Amazing. I thought about it when I came,

but then I thought, "Okay, obviously

we want to show the beauty of the back."

I agree with you.

- Let's saddle up. - All right.

- You ready to pull out, so to speak?

I'm brimming with content. So I'm ready any time.

"Parts Unknown"... I mean,

the title expresses the intention of the show.

- "Unknown." The unknown. - And new.

- I don't know what "Parts Unknown" was.

"Parts Unknown" was...

Oh, fuck.

I can tell you what it wasn't.

- It's hard to say, because it certainly wasn't,

in my mind, a food show.

- Yeah, sure, we'll sit at a table and we'll have a meal,

but really it's about culture, politics...

- Comedy, action movie... - Geography, history.

- It wasn't a travel show. - Adventure, horror.

You know, I don't know.

It's hard for me to say what "Parts Unknown" was,

because I was so immersed in it that it was... I mean,

it was definitely more than a job.

It was, like, such an incredible experience.

"What is 'Parts Unknown'?"

is actually a really easy question, because it was Tony.

- Oh, yeah. That is... can I say "tumescent" on CNN?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can.

- I've often been asked the question, "What was Tony like?"

I feel like it's the first question everyone asks.

- What you saw onscreen, it was and is that man.

- That was the magic of Tony, I think,

is that people who have never even met him,

they would feel like they would know him.

- He was this curmudgeonly, funny dude.

He said something like,

"If you can't smoke in a recording studio,

what the fuck has this world come to?"

Candid, raw...

Difficult, funny, brilliant...

- He was honest... brutally, at times.

- Is he nice? - He's not nice, but that's okay.

- Even though you felt like he maybe liked you

and liked what you were doing,

you were very, very, very rarely ever gonna hear it.

- Did Tony say "thank you"? - For what?

- I remember an event in Lyon, and it was Tony,

Daniel Boulud and Bill Buford, and we had gone in and pre-lit

everything to seamlessly move from place to place.

- And Tony notices the light that is on over their head,

that it's clearly not a restaurant light

but one of our lights.

- Oh, nice. - They've lit already.

And Bill's like,

"Man, your crew's, like, pretty awesome."

You have an amazing team.

And you could hear Tony say...

- Only pet the baby when he's sleeping,

as we say in the kitchen.

- "Only pet the baby when it's sleeping."

- "Only pet the baby when it's sleeping."

It's... or you'll ruin him.

- He was a great motivator in that way.

"Only pet the baby when it's sleeping."

I should do more of that.

Okay.

All right. Say when. Good?

I'm sure I did not write this line.

- His soul was the soul of a writer,

and I think he was a beautiful writer.

And I think that kind of, you know, poetry

and his love came out through his words.

- Next time you turn off a news cycle

filled with shouting bobbleheads,

convinced that America

is devolving into a moronic inferno,

questioning the greatness of your nation,

maybe you should come here.

Here are your purple mountains majesty.

- I think when we really hit it right,

and why I think it's timeless, it's Tony's voice.

That's why people responded so well to it, right?

They wanted to hear what this man had to say about the world.

- Europeans first reached West Africa

in the mid-15th century,

bringing with them the usual things:

an industrialized slave trade, subjugation,

the rule of the many by the very few.

- The moment that Tony's voice actually gets into a show,

all of a sudden, you have a full picture.

You have the full perspective of this man

who has an angle, you know?

He knows how to point up a story.

- So, first question would be, in your lifetime,

will you be able to visit Yafa?

- He wanted to give a platform to people

who would usually be ignored,

you know, who would be forgotten...

People who wouldn't have a voice otherwise.

He really gave those people and opportunity to shine.

- He always, like, joked about magical ponies and unicorns,

but, like, he truly was.

He was like a fucking unicorn, like...

- Coming into "Parts Unknown," in the first season,

there was a real mandate to make it different.

It was a lot of pressure.

- If you really want to find something new,

you have to be willing to fully embrace that feeling of lost,

or "I don't know what I'm doing,"

and that's terrifying, anxiety-ridden,

and also the absolute most joy you can find.

- When we hit CNN with "Parts Unknown,"

the show really manifested, truly,

into what it wanted to be.

Welcome to my life.

Actual content, B-roll,

dick jokes, meal scene...

Did I say dick jokes? Diarrhea.

Where do we come from? How does it all work?

How far can we go?

What are we, as sentient humans, capable of?

And it's funny, man.

It's not until someone's gone that you really,

really try to understand what made them tick.

And what made Tony Bourdain tick?

He talked a lot about being on the move,

and I think that Tony,

you know, honestly, like a shark,

needed to be on the move all the time.

And it wasn't that he was running from something;

he was always running toward something.

- Antarctica was, you know, it was the last continent.

Tony had, I mean,

literally, I think, been to the rest of the world.

There have been some very intense logistics

on this show,

but getting a six-person crew

to the South Pole

was one of the hardest.

Chilly.

- It is a long-ass way down there.

You know, LAX to, like, Sydney to Christchurch

to McMurdo Station to the South Pole...

You know, days of travel.

My face hurts.

After this massive,

60-hour journey,

he gets there and says,

"It really is the ass end of the world."

And walks away.

That was worth 60 hours.

Best line ever.

- No, you're kidding me, right? - Take two?

We don't do take twos.

No. I want to see one of those seals fuck a penguin.

- The show became a vehicle for him

to meet some of his heroes,

for him to kind of live out some of his own dreams,

like some of his own, you know, fantasies.

- I've had something of a multi-decade obsession

with the Congo.

It's been kind of a personal dream, if you will,

to travel the Congo River,

and now, for better or worse, I get that chance.

There's moments in this series

where... watching Tony

truly experiencing something that's, like, life-changing.

- It was an extremely selfish show. It was very selfish.

He was really out to please himself,

and in doing so,

I think he pleased a big audience of people.

- Frankly, this TV show has become an impediment

to the smooth operation of this mission.

We might have to terminate your command.

- So count... how long do I have to do this?

- There's this misconception that directing

is actually telling someone what to say.

- Attempt to manipulate? - Yes. Direct? No.

- Can we just put a little piece of green behind you...

No.

For ten seconds?

- You were a director on a "Parts Unknown" episode

because you were directing everything around Tony,

but you were never directing Tony.

- So production vehicles should not park

in front of the restaurant.