Paris, Texas
Composite Score: 85.43
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, Hunter Carson, Socorro Valdez, and Sam Berry
Director: Wim Wenders
Writers: L.M. Kit Carson and Sam Shepard
Genres: Drama, Road Trip
MPAA Rating: R
Box Office: $2.21 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Paris, Texas is Wim Wenders’s Palme d’Or winning film about a recluse who returns to society and attempts to reconnect with his son and estranged wife in the small towns of Texas (and also Houston and the suburbs of L.A.). The film stars Harry Dean Stanton in the leading role of Travis Henderson, joined by Nastassja Kinski as his estranged wife Jane, Hunter Carson as their son Hunter, Dean Stockwell as his brother Walt, and Aurore Clément as Walt’s wife Anne. In addition to its top prize at Cannes, the film also earned Wenders a BAFTA for Best Director and is considered one of the director’s best films. It continues to garner recognition for its beautiful cinematography and its exploration of the human search for connection.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Making it through the first act of Paris, Texas is one of the hardest parts of watching this film, but once you succeed, the second and third act provide some of the most rewarding character and story moments in any film. The film’s first thirty or so minutes, though, can be quite frustrating, as you begin to empathize with Walt’s frustration with the unexplained oddness of his newly returned brother. Travis doesn’t really become a sympathetic protagonist until around the one-hour mark, and getting there might be more than some audiences can sit through. The opening scenes of the landscape of Texas interspersed with forced conversation from Walt and no response from Travis can be quite grating on one’s patience, and even once they get back to Walt’s home in L.A. and the story picks up, Travis remains pretty one-note until he finally watches the home movie of his brother’s visit to him and his family in Galveston.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Once you’ve gotten through the film’s potentially frustrating first act, the back two-thirds of Paris, Texas are some of the most rewarding in any film. The second act, all about the bonding between father and son and their road trip back to Texas, is filled with hope and optimism and enthusiasm for the human experience. In it, we finally get to see Harry Dean Stanton flex his acting chops, communicating regret and longing and a sense of responsibility through the simplest of gestures and looks, drawing the audience (and Hunter) in all the while as he seeks redemption. Hunter Carson turns in an impressive child performance across from Stanton in the film’s middle segment, giving it the emotional weight that it needs to set up for the film’s final act. Where the second act is dominated by putting words to action, the final act slows to focus on the words and emotions that Travis is finally processing once he catches up with his estranged wife. Most of the film’s final act takes place in one location, really just in one brief encounter between Travis and Nastassja Kinski’s Jane. It’s a beautiful endcap on the film, where so much that has been left unsaid is finally out on the table and you come to fully understand the tragedy of Travis’s situation and the reason for his hopelessness. The moments of connection that you finally get are dampened somewhat by the separation that they also bring, but it really feels like the perfect ending for each of the characters involved.
While imperfect in its first act, the story that Wenders tells with his screenwriters in the second and third is one of the most human stories ever told, sure to leave an impact on any audience, which is why this film stands the test of time as one of the greatest ever made. You can currently stream this film on Max or the Criterion Collection if you’re looking to check it out any time soon.
