Friday, November 11, 2011

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)
Paris, Texas (1984)

Genre: Drama
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Nastassja Kinski, Hunter Carson
Language: English
Duration: 147 min.
Rating: 8.7  

Summary:
An epic road film that follows the mysterious, nearly mute drifter Travis as he tries to reconnect with his young son, living with his brother in Los Angeles, and his missing wife Jane.



Paris, Texas is a film directed by German New Wave filmmaker Wim Wenders, adapted from a Sam Shepard play by L.M. Kit Carson.  It premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d'Or, the FIPRESCI prize, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Immediately from its opening moments, this film sweeps you up into its poetic and mysterious mood.  A slow sweeping pan across the vast scorching desert somewhere close to the Mexican border in the American southwest, backed by the twang of a solo slide guitar (performed by Ry Cooder) that finally settles on a solitary walking figure dressed in a ragged dust covered suit and red baseball cap.  The camera cuts to a close up of the bearded man (Harry Dean Stanton) with a completely forlorn look upon his weathered face, as he pauses to finish the last of his water from a plastic gallon jug before continuing with resolve towards an unknown destination.

Paris, Texas (1984)

Wenders masterfully blends the majestic beauty of the American landscape with a wholly European sensibility.  Unfolding the rest of the film in the same lyrical manner as that brilliant introduction, gradually revealing the details of a story that stretches out like the open desert, while exploring the basic themes of estrangement, loneliness and isolation.  Despite the long running time, the film never bogs down because the characters are constantly on the move, driving down the highway or making their way on foot from one brief stop to the next, with the stunning colorful landscapes captured by ace cinematographer Robby Müller and Ry Cooder's wonderful guitar notes reverberating to fill the gaps at just the right moments.

Stanton's restrained performance is amazing but the entire cast is quite impressive, including fine supporting turns from Dean Stockwell and Aurore Clément as Walt and Anne, Travis' brother and sister in law who have been fostering his son Hunter (Hunter Carson) all this time. Along with an outstanding nuanced performance from Nastassja Kinski playing Travis' former wife Jane, equipped with a convincing accent that cracks slightly once or twice but still hides her German origins well; and appearing in the best scene of the film, an emotionally heartbreaking sequence that is also arguably one of the best scenes of any film, alongside but physically separated from Stanton by a one-way glass.

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas is quite simply a towering display of cinema from Wim Wenders that beautifully fuses the classic American road movie with an unmistakable European flair.  I highly recommend the newly restored Criterion Blu-ray edition, once again they have done an amazing job as the results look like it could have been shot yesterday.

Finally an interesting tidbit, the film also has a couple important crew members of note.  Claire Denis is the assistant director and Agnès Godard is first assistant camera operator.   I believe this is the first feature film that the two work on together.  It's rather fascinating to witness the origins of their long running collaboration, and to see the direct influence that Wenders has had on their future careers.

Bonjour Tristesse

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Paris, Texas (1984)

14 comments:

Jack Deth said...

I think  Stanton's has been consistently memorable in nearly all of his work.  'Straight Time' from 1978 stands out, but in 'Paris' , Winders seems close to channeling Antonioni.

PS: Drop on by FlixChatter if you have a few minutes. I'm doing a guest review of Robert Rossen's 'The Hustler' from 1961. I think you'll enjoy it.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It's too early to say if this is my favorite film of his, but it would take an absolute masterpiece to top it.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

For sure.  Not knowing where it's going is a large part of the beauty of watching it.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Michael.  I highly recommend picking it up.  The restoration is amazing, it's almost too good.  I think I need to seek out his earlier road films now too.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yep surely a career defining role for him.  Thanks for the comment JD.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Glad you liked this one, Lurker.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yep stunning x 3. I could have used any random frames in the film for screenshots and got the same response.

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

This is oblique but I don't care for slow pans of anything. Chalk it up to the attention span.

Steven Flores said...

I saw this film years ago and from the few films of Wenders I've seen.  It's still my favorite.  I saw it recently on a HD channel and whoa... I really need to the Criterion DVD.

d_4 said...

I'm not sure what to expect. I'll watch it, definitely, and I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it if you give it that high a rating, but I'm not sure were it'll take me. I think that's a good thing, though.

Michael Parent said...

Excellent review BT! I love this film very much and your review makes me want to watch it again! The Criterion release looks amazing and your screenshots are wonderful! Some years ago I participated in Top 5s of many genres as a project on another website and I voted this one as my number one of all time for the Road movies. I love the entire cast and I love the disparity between the two brothers all along the film! Man I have to watch this now!

Jack Deth said...

Hi, Bonjour and company:

Harry Dean Stanton's finest, most subtle and underplayed work in a well cast and lovely to look at film.

The Angry Lurker said...

Watched this movie after finding the Ry Cooder track on a soundtrack album...good movie.

FrontRoomCinema said...

stunning stunning stunning!! Great write up my friend

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