Paris, Texas
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Harry Dean Stanton is on cracking form here the amnesiac "Travis". He turns up in a Texan clinic dressed in a striped suit, but recalling little for the slightly roguish doctor who helps him after some dehydrating time in the desert to use to help identify him. A tiny scrap of paper in his wallet enables him to, though, and soon "Walt" (Dean Stockwell) arrives to try and get his long-lost brother back to his own home in Los Angeles. As the story now gradually unfolds, we discover that "Travis" has a son who lives with "Walt" but we are unsure as to just what has led him to his current, absent-minded, predicament. Unwilling to fly, the two take the long road trip back getting to know each other and slowly building a renewed sense of trust before he is to be re-introduced to the son (Hunter Carson) he hasn't seen for four years and who requires some answers of his own. The last half hour brings the threads together neatly, if a little conveniently, allowing a few brief appearances from Nastassja Kinski that brings the story of "Travis" and his trauma full circle. To be honest, I found the actual plot rather weak, indeed the story isn't up to much at all really - it's the performance from HDS that is measured and engaging. His flawed character gradually comes out of his self-induced shell as it seems he is learning about himself almost at the same pace as we are - and that makes the film compelling for the most part. It's a story that takes it's time, and watching it I found it did take me a few minutes to get myself into a suitably low gear to appreciate it. It's isn't a plod, or a slow watch - it is a nuanced, occasionally amusing, search for identity - oh, and for a field in Paris, Texas!
Filipe Manuel Neto
**A film full of qualities, but which will not please the general public.** There are films that are made for commercial audiences and others that are clearly made to please specialized critics and film theorists. Although this film was present on the commercial circuit, the truth is that Wim Wenders directed this film for critics and film festival audiences, and this explains why critics love it and why the general public hardly knows this work. . About me? To be quite honest, I didn't particularly like the film, and it's not the kind of film I like to watch or watch with pleasure. However, I am the first to recognize that it is a work full of artistic and technical qualities, and that it deserves a close look by any student and fan of the seventh art. The plot revolves around a man who spent four years wandering through desert areas of Texas due to a huge psychological shock. We don't know what he suffered, but it is obvious that he is not well when he is finally rescued by his brother, and he spends a long time without saying a word, just trying to resume his march to nowhere. As the plot develops, we understand the emotional void he feels and desperately seeks to fill. The reunion with his son, whom he hadn't seen for years, will mark the beginning of a journey of inner healing, of reuniting with himself and the hurts of his past. The idea of family, the crisis of moral and social values, the role of men and women in marriage and the absence of feelings are themes that the film, very discreetly, addresses throughout the story it tells us. Anyone who wants to see this film should prepare themselves for a long, very visual experience: the film is a grueling two and a half hours long and the action is quite slow. Wenders, who even thought about becoming a painter, likes to work very carefully on the visual and pictorial side of his films, and the slow action allows him, in this specific case, to explore to the maximum the visual beauty of desert scenes or urban landscapes. of Texas, where the action is concentrated. Do I need to say that the choice of sets and filming locations was one of the aspects that I liked most? Thanks to a good cinematography job, each one looks even more beautiful, wild and rude. Harmonizing perfectly with all this, the soundtrack, on guitar, plays a little with the Wild West and with the melodies that we usually associate with the Western style. In addition to a very well done and solid plot, and good visual and technical values, the film also features the extraordinary work of Harry Dean Stanton. The actor has never been one of those stars that draws crowds, but he has quality and gives us here, probably, the best work of his film career. He is solid and impactful enough to capture our full attention with a minimum of words and facial expressions, and he doesn't say a word or change his facial expression during the first half hour of the film. The film also has excellent contributions from Dean Stockwell and Nastassja Kinski, and even young Hunter Carson does a well-done job. However, the stage is all Stanton's.
Axel
I discovered Paris, Texas through Letterboxd's Top 250 Films with Most Fans, having never heard of it before. The 8.1 IMDB rating caught my attention, so I decided to give this acclaimed film a shot. What Worked The film starts genuinely intriguing. Travis's complete silence in the opening act was captivating - Harry Dean Stanton delivers a convincing portrayal of someone emotionally hollowed out by four years of isolation. His emotionless face perfectly captures that shell-shocked quality. I was particularly drawn to the early domestic scenes, like when Travis starts polishing boots at his brother's house, and there were hints of tension when Walt's wife seemed a bit too flirty with him. I thought something compelling might materialize from that dynamic. The cinematography deserves praise - watching those American Southwest landscapes in Blu-ray quality was genuinely beautiful. The visuals really pop, and Ry Cooder's guitar score effectively establishes that southwestern mood with its twangy, atmospheric sound. Where It Lost Me The momentum completely died when Travis tried to pick up Hunter from school. Up until that point, I was invested in the mystery: what happened during those four missing years? Unfortunately, the film abandons this intriguing setup in favor of a more conventional family reunion story that felt pedestrian. The famous peep show booth scene between Travis and Jane left me cold. While Jane showed some emotional range as the conversation progressed, Travis remained frustratingly robotic - it felt like he was reading from a script rather than having a genuine emotional breakthrough. The scene dragged without delivering the psychological depth it clearly aimed for. It's nowhere near the caliber of something like the psychologist scenes in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Final Verdict Paris, Texas suffers from prioritizing mood and atmosphere over compelling storytelling. While I typically don't mind slower-paced films, this one felt too empty, too "nothing happening for 2.5 hours." The runtime could definitely be trimmed, though I understand some scenes were meant to develop character relationships. If I could change one thing, I'd focus more on the mystery of Travis's disappearance rather than his quest to reunite his fractured family. The beginning promised something more psychologically complex than what we ultimately got. The film might resonate with viewers from another era or those who prefer European art cinema's contemplative approach, but for modern audiences seeking more substantial plotting, it's hard to recommend. A solid 6/10 - not bad, but certainly not deserving of its lofty reputation.
Wuchak
**_Artsy but tedious road flick in the Southwest_** Written by Sam Shepard and shot in late 1983, this meshes elements of Coppola’s “The Rain People” with Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore” and a little “The Last Picture Show.” While it generally failed at the box office, it has since garnered an impressive following and is highly rated on the internet. For me, it’s the least of those movies. Sure, it’s well made and artistic with creatively communicated messages, such as Travis’ meeting the “screaming man” on the long bridge, which represents what he himself went through before going mute. Now he’s recovering and has compassion for the raving soul. Unfortunately, the entire first half drags and Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) simply isn’t an interesting enough character on which to blow so much time. The second half finally stirs up attention with the revelations concerning Jane (Nastassja Kinski), yet the ensuing confrontation also bogs down, which isn’t helped by an uninspiring ending. I did enjoy seeing Aurore Clément though, aka Capt. Willard’s romantic interest in the controversial French Plantation sequence of “Apocalypse Now” (cut from the original theatrical release, but replaced in subsequent editions, like “Redux”). It's overlong at 2 hours, 27 minutes; and was shot in Texas and SoCal. GRADE: C/C-
Movie Recommendation
Wings of Desire1987-09-23Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.More...
Stop Making Sense1984-10-19A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.More...
BloodRayne II: Deliverance2007-09-18Rayne, a half-human half-vampire warrior, is in the America's 1880's Wild West to stop the vampired Billy the Kid and his posse of vampire cowboys.More...
Alice in the Cities1974-05-17German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer’s block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected.More...
Blue Velvet1986-09-19The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.More...
Poetry2010-05-13A South Korean woman in her sixties enrolls in a poetry class as she grapples with her faltering memory and her grandson's appalling wrongdoing.More...
My New Partner1984-09-19A streetwise Paris policeman who takes kickbacks from the minor criminals on his beat to allow them to continue is assigned an idealistic new partner fresh from police academy. He sets out to corrupt him...More...
The Prowler1981-11-06Thirty years after a murder on the night of Avalon Bay's graduation dance, the sleepy town's teens meet grisly ends at the hands of a prowler once thought to be a jilted soldier home from war.More...
The Red Violin1998-11-13300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.More...
Pauline at the Beach1983-03-23Marion is about to divorce from her husband and takes her 15-year-old niece, Pauline, on a vacation to Granville. There, she meets an old love...More...
Ocean with David Attenborough2025-05-08David Attenborough takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing.More...
Room 2372012-10-26A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.More...
The Farewell2019-07-12A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.More...
Creepshow 21987-05-01Three macabre tales from the latest issue of a boy's favorite comic book, dealing with a vengeful wooden Native American, a monstrous blob in a lake, and an undying hitchhiker.More...
Bananas1971-04-28When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.More...
RoboCop1987-07-17In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.More...
Fireworks1997-10-30Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With his wife suffering from leukemia and his business partner paralyzed from a brutal gangster attack, Nishi borrows from a yakuza loan shark and then robs a bank to clear his debt.More...
The Salt of the Earth2014-08-29During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.More...
The Double2014-04-03An awkward office drone becomes increasingly unhinged after a charismatic and confident look-alike takes a job at his workplace and seduces the woman he desires.More...
The Collector2009-07-09Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.More...
Similar Movies
Citizen Kane
1941-04-17Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.Maybe We Should
No data for this movieDetermined to bring hope to their rural Pennsylvania community, a couple embark on an ambitious mission to establish a revolutionary therapy center for children with special needs.102 Not Out
2018-05-04An unusual love-hate relationship between a 75-year-old son and his 102-year-old father, who wants to break the oldest-man-alive record.Eternal Sunshine of t...
2004-03-19Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.Amores Perros
2000-06-16A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his sister-in-law, and a homeless man.American History X
1998-07-01Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.Before Sunrise
1995-01-27An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.Blade Runner
1982-06-25In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.Dirty Dancing
1987-08-21Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.Anatomy of a Murder
1959-07-01Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.All About My Mother
1999-04-16Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.Three Colors: Blue
1993-09-08The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.Three Colors: Red
1994-05-12Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.Scarface
1983-12-09After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.Wings of Desire
1987-09-23Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.Breaking the Waves
1996-07-05In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.The 400 Blows
1959-06-03For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.Wir sagen Du! Schatz....
2007-11-01Oliver doesn’t have a family so he steals one.The White Sound
2001-12-31Lukas, a young schizophrenic man, has to deal with a new town, a new relationship, and the paranoia in his head.The Silence of the La...
1991-02-14Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.