Paris, Texas (1984)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

L.M. Kit Carson (adaptation)
Sam Shepard (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A place for dreams. A place for heartbreak. A place to pick up the pieces.

Plot:

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Paris Texas | Reunion | Amnesia | German American

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Harry Dean Stanton	...	Travis Henderson
Sam Berry	...	Gas Station Attendant
Bernhard Wicki	...	Doctor Ulmer
Dean Stockwell	...	Walt Henderson
Aurore Clément	...	Anne Henderson (as Aurore Clement)
Claresie Mobley	...	Car Rental Clerk
Hunter Carson	...	Hunter Henderson
Viva	...	Woman on TV (as Viva Auder)
Socorro Valdez	...	Carmelita
Edward Fayton	...	Hunter's Friend
Justin Hogg	...	Hunter - Age 3
Nastassja Kinski	...	Jane Henderson
Tom Farrell	...	Screaming Man
John Lurie	...	Slater
Jeni Vici	...	Stretch

Also Known As:

Motel Chronicles (West Germany) (working title)
Paris, Texas (West Germany)

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

West Germany | France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2007) | West Germany:6 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R | France:U | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

10060 Olivia Terrace, Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The restaurant that Travis calls Walt's home from is actually located in Cabazon, CA (not San Bernardino, which is about 45 miles away.) This of course is home to Claude Bell's famous concrete T-Rex and brontosaurus.

Goofs:

Continuity: Travis and his brother check into a small motel on their first night, where we see a dresser with an ugly lamp sitting on top. After Travis runs off, they continue down the road and stay in a larger hotel, where we see the same dresser and light.

Quotes:

Walt: We live in the suburbs, but I've got my business in town
Travis: Oh yeah? What's your business?
Walt: I make billboard signs for advertising.
Travis: Oh yeah? So *you*'re the one who makes those signs, I love those. Some of them are beautiful.
Walt: I'm not the only one who makes them, Trav.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Rain Man (1988)

Starring: the landscape...

I felt so tired of all those comments saying how beautiful the photography is or, for those who havent enjoyed the film, how the photography isnt enough to sustain the whole silentness of the first 2/3 of the movie.

It just sounds like a hollow praise for a hollow minded cute, blonde and gorgeous girl. In fact, it is an offense.

For a director that first was inspired by images and then looked for stories to fill them and give them reasons to be released as films (he says this in a book). Wenders achieves his high technical and vision point concerning his way of thinking, not just film but life in this masterpiece.

He had before discussed the production of images and how this affects our way of seeing and perceiving life. But in Paris, Texas the image, the landscapes really becomes a character, not just to give a good photography and make those 2 1/2 hours that the movie lasts oh!!, so beatiful to watch!!, or to make us get in its atmosphere... The landscapes are so important as the words, or actions, between the characters are, it really touches people surrounded by it, it influences some how their personalities. I mean, each photograme tries to bring this relation.

It is beautiful how Wenders can build his caracters personalities, not by the way they think or act, but what impresses them, what visually interests them - like when Travis is watching not the airplane, but its shadow on the ground while it takes off.

After all that, i can just say that the rest of the whole story is made by really beautiful, touching and delicate situations of a man's life trying to reorder the lost pieces from a puzzle.

And, yes, the conversation between Travis and his ex-wife by the last half hour to the end is one of the most touching moments seen on the screen.