Paris, Texas (1984)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

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:

Monologue | Private Club | Alcoholic | French American | American Southwest

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
Sally Norvell	...	Nurse Bibs
Sharon Menzel	...	Comedienne
The Mydolls	...	Rehearsing Band
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Shepard	...	(unconfirmed)
Brandy Tipton	...	Hunter's Girlfriend (scenes deleted)

Directed by
Wim Wenders

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

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer
Pascale Dauman	....	associate producer
Don Guest	....	producer
Chris Sievernich	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ry Cooder

Cinematography by
Robby Müller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Przygodda

Casting by
Gary Chason

Art Direction by
Kate Altman

Costume Design by
Birgitta Bjerke

Makeup Department
Karoly Balazs	....	hair stylist (as Charles Balazs)
Karoly Balazs	....	makeup artist (as Charles Balazs)

Production Management
Udo Heiland	....	post-production manager
Karen Koch	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claire Denis	....	assistant director
Michael Helfand	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Lorrie Brown	....	assistant art director
Kimberly Buckley	....	property master (as Kim Buckley)
Craig Busch	....	assistant props: Texas
Anne Kuljian	....	set decorator: Los Angeles

Sound Department
Dominique Auvray	....	sound editor
Douglas Axtell	....	boom operator
Hartmut Eichgrün	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lothar Mankewitz	....	sound processor
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound mixer (as Jean Paul Mugel)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Blum	....	best boy grip
Robert K. Feldmann	....	key grip (as Robert Feldman)
Kevin Galbraith	....	electrician
Greg Gardiner	....	gaffer
Agnès Godard	....	first assistant camera
Scott Guthrie	....	best boy electric
Robin Holland	....	still photographer
Martin Schäfer	....	camera operator: additional photography, second unit
Pim Tjujerman	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Sheila Possner	....	casting coordinator: Los Angeles

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Roberta Elkins	....	wardrobe assistant: Texas

Editorial Department
Anne Schnee	....	assistant editor
Joachim von Mengershausen	....	commissioning editor: WDR (as J. Von Mengershausen)

Transportation Department
Homer Albin	....	driver
Lynn Brisbin	....	driver
Al Cantu	....	driver
Charles Griffith	....	driver (as Charlie Griffith)
Carl Johnson	....	driver
Tom Kelton	....	driver
Richard Padgett	....	driver
B.C. Smith	....	driver

Other crew
Allison Anders	....	production assistant
Helen Caldwell	....	script supervisor
Walter Donohue	....	story editor: Channel 4
Susan Elkins	....	location manager: Texas
Sarah Fitzsimmons	....	office coordinator: New York
Scott Kirby	....	production assistant
Patric Kreuzer	....	production assistant
Dean Lent	....	production assistant
Barbara Lucey	....	accountant
Dianne Mapp-Cheek	....	production coordinator (as Dianne Lisa Cheek)
Sherry McBride	....	caterer: Texas
Bonna Newman	....	production assistant
Lilyan Sievernich	....	office coordinator: New York
James Thompson	....	location manager: Los Angeles (as Jim Thompson)
Susanna Virtanen	....	post-production office

Thanks
Lotte Eisner	....	dedicatee (as Lotte H. Eisner)
Barbara von Weitershausen	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Road Movies Filmproduktion
• Argos Films
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) (in association with)
• Channel Four Films (in association with)
• Pro-ject Filmproduktion (in association with)

Distributors

• Argos Films (1984) (France) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• ELKE (1984) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Look Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Madman Entertainment (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (video) (video 2000)
• Primer Plano Film Group S.A. (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• SBP (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• marketing-film

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M (DVD rating) | 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:

During the scene in the Texas airport, Dean Stockwell's character is on the phone with his wife. The PA announcer can be heard saying "A message for Joy Stockwell, Joy Stockwell. Austin will arrive at any minute." Joy was Dean's wife and Austin, his son, was born during production of this film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Travis and Hunter make a phone call from a Texaco gas station in San Bernardino. In the background we see the road-side dinosaurs, which are in Cabazon California, closer to Palm Springs. Not a big mistake, but a distance of some 40 miles.

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 Überraschung, Die (2004)

A tale of redemption

Paris Texas is a slow, moody, and delicate study about a man who once ran away from everything and now is coming to terms with himself and learning to forgive himself, by finally facing he people he turned his back on. The Wim Wenders directed movie still today rests in a fairly under recognized status, which doesn't stretch the term "cult classic" when applied to it. Paris, Texas is about redemption, the road, family, and the bleakness of the American Southwest. It contains one of the most memorable and unusual openings ever. We hear Ry Cooder's lonely single note twangy guitar on the soundtrack with cinematographer Robby Müller (Barfly, To Live and Die in L.A. , Dead Man) capturing the majestic vistas, rock formations, and the open desert in his camera. Actor Harry Dean Stanton walks out of the dry and desolate landscape, wearing a wornout black sports jacket and dusty red baseball cap. It's a beautifully staged opening sequence. A perfect start to a perfect movie. This man is lost and in need of being found. It's his brother played by actor Dean Stockwell ("Quantum Leap", Blue Velvet) who gets word of Stanton's whereabouts and goes after him, which begins the journey of redemption. Nastassja Kinski plays Stanton's young x-wife and the true love of his life. Kinski, the daughter of legendary German actor Klaus Kinski, doesn't make her entrance into the film until the later reels, but her lingering presence is felt throughout. It's almost the same type of thing that Coppola did by not having Brando appear in Apocalypse Now until the conclusion. The scenes that Kinski does have in the end with Stanton are some of the best moments ever captured on film. They're highly emotional and will cause even the most hard-hearted to shed a tear. Both Stanton and Kinski are very subtle and understated in their acting. It's true to their characters. Eight year old Hunter Carson plays Stanton's biological son, who was raised by his uncle (Stockwell). Carson certainly deserves mention in any conversation about great child performances on film. Paris, Texas is a masterpiece. There's no way around it. It's a movie that slowly reveals itself putting the audience right in the shoes of Stanton, who also is trying to remember his past and face it. The story was penned by playwright and actor Sam Shepard, though he doesn't appear in the film. Shepard, a very good playwright, has outdone himself with Paris, Texas surpassing his perhaps more well known, True West. Paris, Texas is a film that must not only be seen, but experienced. Sure the pacing is extremely slow, but as an audience member, use that to your advantage to suck in the picturesque orange southwest desert against the deep blue skys, and the poignant acting, and haunting soundtrack. There's no reason not to treat yourself to this uniquely American masterpiece meditation. It would make a great nightcap for a triple feature with two other simular themed American films, The Searchers and Taxi Driver.