Paris, Texas (1984)

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

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

Release Date:

19 September 1984 (France)

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:

Desert | State In Title | French American | Mute | Railroad Crossing

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 16 wins & 6 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
Ron Mitchell	....	production assistant
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)
• ELKE (1984) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Lii-Filmi (1984) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Primer Plano Film Group (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Axiom Films (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Leader Music (2012) (Argentina) (DVD) (as Leader Vision)
• 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)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• SBP (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• marketing-film

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

West Germany | France | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | Australia:M | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2007) | West Germany:6 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Musicians Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith claimed this was their favorite movie of all time.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Travis is talking to Jane in the rap parlor booth, at one point she tells him, "Please go on", in a European sounding accent. The character is from Texas and has a Texas accent.

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 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

A European View Of America

At face value, the screen story, about a dysfunctional family, is weak. The plot is not really credible. The lead character (Travis) is an older man who in the first ten minutes of the film wonders alone in the desert like a horse with no name, seemingly suffering from severe trauma. But Travis' later behavior and the behavior of other characters in the film are not believable, given this opening gambit.

However, if we discard our need to interpret behavior rationally, then the film works, either as a dream or, more generically, as a parable of modern day America, from the viewpoint of a European film director. The characters and their journey through the film's story are symbolic of American culture as a whole, with its ever-present loneliness, urban alienation, emotional separation, and general rootlessness.

The film's visuals and music combine to prop up the thin story, and give the film its enduring cultural theme. Cinematographer Robby Muller's images are stunning. His location shots both in the desert and in the urban jungle, using polarizing filters, are works of true photographic art. The images, with their florescent greens, reds, blues, and yellows in dim light are just terrific. More than any dialogue could, these visuals effectively convey the loneliness, alienation, and lost love that are so characteristically American. And Ry Cooder's simple but haunting Tex-Mex guitar sounds amplify this grim mood.

The film's main flaw is its length. With a runtime of 150 minutes, some parts of the film could have been edited out, without loss of the film's message.

"Paris, Texas" is a memorable art house film about the modern American experience. Like other art house films, the story is not necessarily to be taken literally. Instead, the story provides narrative support for the visuals, the music, and other film elements, the combination of which imparts some broader or deeper social message than could be conveyed by story alone.