Paris, Texas
Short description
Travis Henderson emerges from the desert near the Mexican border, unable to explain who he is or how he got there. A doctor treats him and contacts his brother Walt, who brings him to his home in Los Angeles. There Travis meets Hunter, the young son he left behind years earlier and who has since been raised by Walt and his wife. As fragments of memory return, Travis gradually rebuilds a connection with the boy, and the two set out through the American Southwest in search of Jane, Hunter's mother. What begins as a search for a missing person becomes a journey on which a man tries to account for the life he abandoned and to find a way back into it.
Wim Wenders directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Sam Shepard and L.M. Kit Carson. It was his fifth feature as director, following Hammett and preceding Wings of Desire three years later, and was a co-production between companies in Germany, the United Kingdom and France. Harry Dean Stanton plays Travis, with Nastassja Kinski as Jane, Dean Stockwell as Walt, Hunter Carson as Hunter, Aurore Clément as Anne and Bernhard Wicki as Doctor Ulmer. The film runs 145 minutes.
Made for about 2 million US dollars, Paris, Texas took roughly the same amount at the worldwide box office and has since found a far larger audience. On IMDb it holds 8.1 out of 10 from over 114,000 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 8.1, from a much smaller body of votes. A critics' rating of 8.3 out of 10 from 53 reviews places it slightly above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The well-known Scottish band Texas owes its name to this film, while another Scottish band, Travis, took its name after the film's main character.
- "Paris, Texas" was called the "most beloved film" by musicians Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) and Elliott Smith (1969-2003).
- Filming began in 1983 while the screenplay was still unfinished, and the plan was to shoot the film in the order in which the plot unfolded. Screenwriter Sam Shepard soon moved on to another project, leaving director Wim Wenders notes on how, in his opinion, everything should end. Subsequently, he attributed some plot details entirely to Wenders and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson. According to Dean Stockwell (who played Walt), early versions of the plot suggested that his character would travel with Hunter (played by Hunter Carson), Travis, and Anne (played by Aurora Clément) before Anne decided to return to Los Angeles, and Walt would get lost in the desert, much like Travis does in the first scene.
- The restaurant from which Travis calls Walt home is located in Cabazon, California (approximately 72 kilometers from San Bernardino). Cabazon is known for its dinosaur statues by sculptor Claude Bell (1897-1988).
- When Dean Stockwell's character is talking to his wife on the phone from the airport, an announcement comes over the loudspeakers: "Attention Joy Stockwell. Austin is expected to arrive any minute now." The actor's wife was named Joy, and during the filming of "Paris, Texas," she gave birth to a son named Austin.
- In his room, Hunter is playing the arcade game Zaxxon.
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