Paris, Texas (1984)Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Natassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Hunter Carson, Aurore Clement
This week is the second last of the semester for Screens, Images, Ideas and we're looking at German director Wim Wenders (remember, he's German so the Ws sound like Vs). He seems to be a bit of a favourite of Dr. Noel's as he always seems to make room for a Wenders film in his courses. I haven't seen a heap of his films so I went in to uni the day before classes to watch what is probably his most highly regarded film, Paris, Texas.
Seven years after walking out on his wife and child, Travis (Stanton) is found mute and amnesiac, wandering aimlessly around the Texan desert. His brother Walt (Stockwell) comes over from Los Angeles to pick him up and take him home. On the trip back Travis slowly regains his ability to talk and his memory. At Los Angeles Travis is re-introduced to Walt's wife Anne (Clement) and Hunter (Carson), Travis's young son who has been living with them for a number of years. As Travis observes the family he decides that Hunter needs to be reunited with his mother, Jane (Kinski). Travis locates her in Houston, Texas, so takes Hunter on the road to find her.
Paris, Texas is a problematic film when you think about it in terms of national cinemas. It is a French and German co-production filmed in the USA. It has a German director, working in a genre, the road movie, which is typically American. It is a real blend of European and American film sensibilities. While the road movie genre is commonly associated with American cinema, given its strong connection to the Western, Wenders actually has quite a strong connection to the genre. In Germany, Wenders made a celebrated trilogy of road movies; Alice in the Cities (Alice in den Stadten), The Wrong Move (Falsche Bewegung) and Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit), in each case adapting this American genre in order to discuss German themes and ideas. Paris, Texas, though, was Wenders first American road movie, and after it won the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival it prompted some film critics to suggest that the best American road movie of the decade had in fact been made by a German.
Stanton gives a great performance as Travis. Particularly in that first half an hour or so when he is mute, his face was so expressive you always felt as though he was just about to talk, but then opts not too. From that we straight away realise that it is not so much a case that he can't talk as that he won't. For so much of the film Travis remains a mystery to us. We don't know why he left his wife and child. All these questions are answered in an amazing monologue scene. Travis finds Jane working in a sex club kind of place, where men sit in dark booths behind two way mirrors and have conversations with girls in different fantasy settings. In a scene which goes for almost 15mins, Travis and Jane sit on opposite sides of the mirror. First Travis tells his story and then Jane tells hers, with only one person being able to see the other at any time. It is a really powerful and emotional scene as we hear the story which unlocks so much of what we have witnessed, made all the more powerful by the understated way in which Stanton and Kinski deliver their lines. Monologues tend to be a feature of the stage more than the screen, but this is one of the best film monologues you'll see.
You can add Paris, Texas to the long list of films which appear indebted to John Ford's The Searchers. A lot of reviews of Wenders' film make reference to Ford's film and another which has been similarly inspired by it, Scorsese's Taxi Driver. All three centre around a man who is trying to rescue a young woman/girl from sexual bondage. In all three cases the male figure is somewhat misguided in their quest. In Paris, Texas we are not convinced that Travis's decision to take Hunter away from Walt and Anne is the best one for him. Given that Jane chose to leave Hunter with them, and has made no effort to get him back, we question whether she will be a suitable parent. The allusion to The Searchers is completed at the film final scene, in which Travis's actions mirror Ethan's in Ford's film.
Paris, Texas is a slow and contemplative film which on a narrative level explores themes of loss and sacrifice. However beyond the narrative it makes some really interesting comments about America. Seeing America from the viewpoint of a visitor, Wenders gives the film's American exploration a unique outsiders perspective.
This week is the second last of the semester for Screens, Images, Ideas and we're looking at German director Wim Wenders (remember, he's German so the Ws sound like Vs). He seems to be a bit of a favourite of Dr. Noel's as he always seems to make room for a Wenders film in his courses. I haven't seen a heap of his films so I went in to uni the day before classes to watch what is probably his most highly regarded film, Paris, Texas.
Seven years after walking out on his wife and child, Travis (Stanton) is found mute and amnesiac, wandering aimlessly around the Texan desert. His brother Walt (Stockwell) comes over from Los Angeles to pick him up and take him home. On the trip back Travis slowly regains his ability to talk and his memory. At Los Angeles Travis is re-introduced to Walt's wife Anne (Clement) and Hunter (Carson), Travis's young son who has been living with them for a number of years. As Travis observes the family he decides that Hunter needs to be reunited with his mother, Jane (Kinski). Travis locates her in Houston, Texas, so takes Hunter on the road to find her.
Paris, Texas is a problematic film when you think about it in terms of national cinemas. It is a French and German co-production filmed in the USA. It has a German director, working in a genre, the road movie, which is typically American. It is a real blend of European and American film sensibilities. While the road movie genre is commonly associated with American cinema, given its strong connection to the Western, Wenders actually has quite a strong connection to the genre. In Germany, Wenders made a celebrated trilogy of road movies; Alice in the Cities (Alice in den Stadten), The Wrong Move (Falsche Bewegung) and Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit), in each case adapting this American genre in order to discuss German themes and ideas. Paris, Texas, though, was Wenders first American road movie, and after it won the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival it prompted some film critics to suggest that the best American road movie of the decade had in fact been made by a German.
Stanton gives a great performance as Travis. Particularly in that first half an hour or so when he is mute, his face was so expressive you always felt as though he was just about to talk, but then opts not too. From that we straight away realise that it is not so much a case that he can't talk as that he won't. For so much of the film Travis remains a mystery to us. We don't know why he left his wife and child. All these questions are answered in an amazing monologue scene. Travis finds Jane working in a sex club kind of place, where men sit in dark booths behind two way mirrors and have conversations with girls in different fantasy settings. In a scene which goes for almost 15mins, Travis and Jane sit on opposite sides of the mirror. First Travis tells his story and then Jane tells hers, with only one person being able to see the other at any time. It is a really powerful and emotional scene as we hear the story which unlocks so much of what we have witnessed, made all the more powerful by the understated way in which Stanton and Kinski deliver their lines. Monologues tend to be a feature of the stage more than the screen, but this is one of the best film monologues you'll see.
You can add Paris, Texas to the long list of films which appear indebted to John Ford's The Searchers. A lot of reviews of Wenders' film make reference to Ford's film and another which has been similarly inspired by it, Scorsese's Taxi Driver. All three centre around a man who is trying to rescue a young woman/girl from sexual bondage. In all three cases the male figure is somewhat misguided in their quest. In Paris, Texas we are not convinced that Travis's decision to take Hunter away from Walt and Anne is the best one for him. Given that Jane chose to leave Hunter with them, and has made no effort to get him back, we question whether she will be a suitable parent. The allusion to The Searchers is completed at the film final scene, in which Travis's actions mirror Ethan's in Ford's film.
Paris, Texas is a slow and contemplative film which on a narrative level explores themes of loss and sacrifice. However beyond the narrative it makes some really interesting comments about America. Seeing America from the viewpoint of a visitor, Wenders gives the film's American exploration a unique outsiders perspective.
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