Paris, Texas

This film is a classic in my opinion. The story is very strongly influenced by its writer's, Sam Shepard, exploration of the human condition. The film is not for everyone. Wim Wenders paces the storyline accordingly to the psyche and struggle of the main character, and the concept of searching for answers to his natural state of mind by returning to the place of his conception is a well thought out and intriguing premise for this film.

I have seen this film more than seven times, and love the slow pace because it allows me to be drawn into that world completely and really have the chance to get to know each character. Recommended to anyone with an interest in psychology, cinematography, Sam Shepard's style of story-telling, and movies that walk to their own beat. Natascha Kinski and Stanton are excellent.

I give it 8 stars (9 if they would release it letterboxed on DVD)

Moody, slow, absorbing, you lose yourself in this 'love lost' and in many ways tragic story. This film was probably an early warning to us all of how life can easily overwhelm without us realising it. It is also virtually unique in the successful portrayal of a man who is deeply lost in his innermost thoughts that the outside world becomes almost a minutiae. Mr Stanton encapsulates this mood perfectly and this is probably his best performance ever. The most moving scene (and there are many) might be when he reviews some old cine film of his life (a normal happy love story which surely could not have gone wrong so badly)before he walked away from it all. I can't help but think this is a real life epistle which could be a marker for how life has overtaken the human race in the last 20 years.

It's hard for me to select just one movie as my very favorite, but if I had to, "Paris, Texas" would probably be it.

As I recall, I first saw it while I was a student in a small theater in '84 or '85; a year or two later I recorded it from cable to Beta tape. After not having watched it for years, I've played it again a few times over the last couple of years. Many movies I recall having liked in the past are just big disappointments when I watch them years later. That's not the case with this one! Then I was single; now I'm married. That alone makes a big difference, but I also find that even some small elements now have more meaning. I previously attached no significance to the scene where Travis was determined to find the same rental car in which he and Walt had previously driven. But how often people do sentimentally and fiercely cling to, objectively, unimportant things in reaction to having had their hearts and spirits broken more than a few times over important things. I often recall this scene when observing some instance of this in myself or others.

I am struck by what opposite opinions people have of this movie. If you have few problems relating to other people, or you don't care much about relating to other humans, and little in your life disappoints you over long spells of your life, you will probably find this movie very boring. I sort of envy people in this situation, though before I would want to wish myself to be like that, I pause at how much my life would be changed and how little of my personality would be left, if I did.

I, too, eagerly await the release of this movie on high quality DVD, and hope that my still barely viewable Beta will last til then.

"Oh, Travis."

Despite the rave reviews I wish I had enjoyed this more.

It was ok up until the final hour, and then it was too pedestrian in getting nowhere.

I was getting fidgety urging something significant to happen, but it concluded with a most unsatisfactory ending.

I found Hunter's character implausible. Would a boy of that age really readily turn his back on the two people he knew as his parents.

Would Travis really try to make amends for his past by breaking up a family and leaving his son with a woman who would clearly revert to type?

There was no explanation as to the four years prior to Travis walking out of the desert.

Yes, it was beautifully filmed and had a lot of atmosphere, but I just did not buy the story.

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.