Paris, Texas (1984)

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his wife and son four years before... See full summary »

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

L.M. Kit Carson (adaptation), Sam Shepard

Stars:

Harry Dean Stanton, Sam Berry, Dean Stockwell

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 16 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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'

Storyline

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his wife and son four years before. As his memory returns, he makes contact with various people from his past.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | state in title | french american | mute | railroad crossing | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany France UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

La búsqueda

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

£1,162,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 4,810,795 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Road Movies Filmproduktion, Argos Films, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Composer Ry Cooder recreated blues guitarist Blind Willie Johnson's 1927 tune "Dark Was the Night" as the centerpiece of his Paris, Texas soundtrack.

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Goofs

Hunter tells Travis that light needs about three seconds to travel from California to Houston. It really barely needs 0.01 seconds.

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Quotes

Jane Henderson: I... I used to make long speeches to you after you left. I used to talk to you all the time, even though I was alone. I walked around for months talking to you. Now I don't know what to say. It was easier when I just imagined you. I even imagined you talking back to me. We'd have long conversations, the two of us. It was almost like you were there. I could hear you, I could see you, smell you. I could hear your voice. Sometimes your voice would wake me up. It would wake me up in the middle of ...

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Amazing Transparent Man (1995)

User Reviews

Second American best film of the eighties

It might seem odd to call this an "American" film, as its director, Wim Wenders is a German film director, who , unlike his predecessors, Lang, Murnau, Pabst, Von Sternberg , and Billy Wilder, has chosen to remain aloof from the Hollywood film industry. But Paris Texas is as much an American film as Tocquevillle's "Democracy in America" is an American book. Sometimes it takes a foreigner ( In Wim Wenders' case, a foriegner who loves American music, American movies and American literature.) to look into the American soul. In this case,it helps that he is working with a great-and misunderstood- American writer, Sam Shephard, and a great-and under appreciated- American actor, Harry Dean Stanton. I can not begin to convey who poetic, how haunting, and how beautiful this film is, and how artfully it probes the American heart. The scene where Stanton confronts his wife, and tells what he did and why he did it, must rank among the supreme scenes, not just of film, but of human life. It echoed the great scenes of our literature, such as Ulysses meeting with Penelope, and the return of the prodigal son. In short, the only film which goes beyond it in the eighties is Raging Bull, and that is largely because of the volcanic power of Scorsese, that most self-crucifying of auteurs. in short, I would go so far as to say that Paris Texas is more than a "ten'...Like Citizen Kane, like 2001, like Andrei Roublev, like Raging Bull , like the Searchers, like Pickpocket, Tokyo Story, Seven Samurai and Ordet,it is an ELEVEN. Sublime AND beautiful.