Wim Wenders’ 1984 film Paris, Texas, now available on Blu-ray disc from the Criterion Collection, centers around a man named Travis (Harry Dean Stanton). Long thought to be dead since disappearing four years ago, Travis reappears from the desert near the Mexico border, mute, world-weary and an amnesiac. After collapsing at a rundown gas station, a doctor manages to connect the mysterious stranger back to his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Anne (Aurore Clement) and Hunter (Kit Carson), the abandoned seven-year-old son of Travis and his estranged wife, Jane (Natassja Kinski).
Bringing his brother back to Los Angeles, Walt begins the slow process of reconnecting his long-lost brother to his past. Hunter and Travis, who really don’t know each other, begin to build a guarded friendship that leads to the estranged duo to plan a road trip back to Texas to track down and reunite with Jane.
Paris, Texas is a drama that packs an emotional punch that does so without being clichéd or overwrought. As in his Road Movie trilogy from the mid 1970s (Alice in the Cities, The Wrong Move and Kings of the Road), Wenders deftly explores themes of alienation, loss, emotional disconnection and attempts at reconciliation, this time through a near-mythical view of the fading American Southwest and the enigma that is the American Family. Sam Shepard’s screenplay is simple but astute, filled with characters and dialogue that act, look and sound real. Robby Muller’s breathtaking cinematography and Ry Cooder’s legendary slide guitar score perfectly accentuate aura of loneliness, sadness and regret that run throughout the film.
Then there are the performances by a cast that can only be described as perfect. The always impressive Stanton turns in the performance of his lifetime, one that speaks volumes through facial expressions and appearance often without saying a word. The young Carson, the son of actress Karen Black and L.M. Kit Carson (who helped with Shepard’s script), is a natural in front of the camera and displays perfect chemistry with Stanton. Stockwell, Clement and Kinski, who shot her scenes in a week, all turn in excellent supporting turns. Even the smallest roles, such as Bernhard Wicki’s German doctor, Tom Farrell’s highway overpass screaming man and John Lurie’s sex club manager (or is he a pimp?) are perfectly cast.
Wim Wenders has made many a road movie both before and after Paris, Texas, but few turned out as well. Wenders’ second American film is easily one of the best dramas produced in the 1980s. It is one that is remarkably moving in terms of plot and character, and exhilarating in its filmmaking technique. You may never visit the actual Paris, Texas in your lifetime, but you definitely should make plans to visit this Paris, Texas if you have not done so yet. It is a cinematic trip well worth undertaking.
On VHS, Laserdisc (both import and domestic) and DVD, Paris, Texas has never really looked all that great on home video, at least to this reviewer. The colors have always been oversaturated, nighttime scenes appeared murky and the prints used for the various releases always gave off the impression that Travis took the print out with him during his four-year sabbatical in the Southwest desert.
Fortunately, Criterion’s new Blu-ray has remedied all that. Presented in a 1.78:1 ratio, Criterion’s 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation of Wenders’ drama is gorgeous. Muller’s cinematography is made even more breathtaking than before thanks to a vibrant color palette, strong black levels and surprising (given the film’s age) amount of picture detail. The print is free of dirt and scratches and film grain is presented at a respectable level throughout. There are no issues with edge enhancement or compression artifacts.
There are only two places I may have encountered small issues with the transfer. The first would be a bit of possible video noise in the background during a scene in the film’s first act. Issue two would be during the concluding monologue between Travis and Jane, where a bit of pulsating appeared in the background. This may very well be a condition inherent in the source material, so it may not be an issue at all. Those two things aside, this is a beautiful presentation.
Criterion has bestowed a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track on Paris for its high-def premiere. It is mostly a front speaker affair with center-channel dialogue sounding as clear as a bell, while Ry Cooder’s music makes good use of the right and left front channels. I detected minimal use of the surround and LFE channels, but then again this is not exactly the type of film that demands use of either.
When Fox Home Video issued their DVD release of the film several years ago, the disc included a few supplements: a Wenders audio commentary, deleted scenes and a short feature on Nastassja Kinski. While the short on Kinski has not been carried over to the Criterion release, the commentary and deleted scenes have. Joining those extras is a wealth of new bonus material has greatly enhances both the film and one’s appreciation of Wenders as a filmmaker. Criterion’s ‘Timeline’ feature is also included. This feature allows the viewer to easily access the chapter markers for both the film and the audio commentary. All video-based extras are presented in 1080i HD.
Audio Commentary – As he did with Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders offers up a host of production stories and trivia. Some of the material covered by Wenders in this commentary is covered elsewhere on the disc. Still, it is a solid commentary track that is well worth your time.
2001 Video Interview with Wim Wenders (29:00) – Conducted by German journalist Roger Willemsen, this fascinating half-hour discussion focuses largely on Paris, Texas. Wenders discusses how his previous work built up to this film, how the characters and actors made the film, his collaborations with Sam Shepard and Ry Cooder and how they started shooting the film with only half a screenplay. Wenders’ also shares a humorous story that involved the late John Huston and the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
The Road to Paris, Texas (42:42) – This 1989 special takes a look at Wenders and his work via interviews with the filmmaker as well as interviews with Harry Dean Stanton, Robby Muller, Wings of Desire star Peter Falk, director Sam Fuller, Dennis Hopper and Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith, whose novel Ripley’s Game was turned into Wenders’ 1977 thriller The American Friend. The focus on Paris, Texas begins at the mid-point of the special and includes an honestly blunt recollection by Stanton in regards to the end of the movie (let’s just say Harry wasn’t entirely happy with it but nonetheless came to terms with it).
Wim Wenders Hollywood April ’84 (12:20) – As they did on Wings of Desire, Criterion has included a segment from the French television show ‘Cinema Cinemas’ that centers on Wenders during post production on Paris. I found this episode segment a bit more involving than the one included on the Wings release. Wenders talks about working with Ry Cooder and how music is as important as film is to him. In fact, to Wenders they are one and the same.
Deleted Scenes and Super 8 Home Movies (23:38/7:00) – Presented as one 23 1/2-minute sequence, these 15 deleted scenes are of the “filler” type and were cut mostly for pacing. Wenders’ provides a relaxed and informative audio commentary in which the filmmaker explains why scenes were cut. He also provides a few choice trivial bits on certain scenes. The footage itself is presented in fairly good shape.
The Super 8 movie montage is an extension of the footage used in the ‘home movie’ section of the actual film. There are two audio options available when watching this seven-minute supplement: a musical accompaniment or the audio from Travis’ monologue to Jane in the film’s third act. The Super 8 footage is in very good shape.
Interview: Claire Denis (20:28) – Recorded in October 2009, critic Kent Jones speaks with the celebrated French director (35 Shots of Rum, Chocolat), who served as a first assistant director on Texas. She offers recollections on working with Wenders and various production stories as well, such as how Bob Dylan was the first choice to do the soundtrack and how Wim Wenders dealt with the Texas Teamsters when they shut down production for a day. A very entertaining and concise interview.
Interview: Allison Anders (25:15): A combination of a talking-head interview and reading from the production diary she was asked to keep during production, Gas, Food and Lodging director Anders recounts how she landed the job of being a production assistant on Texas while she was still in film school. She talks about working with Wenders, going over dialogue with Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell, her recollection on the Teamsters’ situation and how this film helped give the American Independent film movement its start.
Gallery of Location-Scouting Photos – In 1983, Wenders travelled through the American Southwest to scout locations for the film’s production. He brought along his camera and took many photos, most of which became part of Wenders’ book ‘Written in the West.’ The photos on display here are wonderful to look at, and by clicking your Blu-ray remote’s blue button, a caption will appear over the photo that tells you the name of the photograph and where it was taken.
Behind-the-Scene Photos by Robin Holland – A collection of approximately twenty behind-the-scenes still photos taken by the film’s unit photographer, Robin Holland.
Theatrical Trailer (2:12): The theatrical trailer from the 1984 20th Century Fox domestic release.
In addition to the aforementioned supplements, the Criterion release also includes a handsome 44-page booklet that contains an article by Nick Roddick, interviews with Sam Shepard, Stanton, Stockwell and Kinski as well as preface and photo excerpts from Wenders’ book ‘Written in the West.’ If there is a downside to the supplements, it would be that the disc does not have an audio track solely devoted to Cooder’s score. Given how instrumental the score is to the movie’s success, a music-only track would have been great to have included.
Paris, Texas is a film that keeps you involved from start to finish, stays with and actually affects you more after you watch it. A heartbreaking but beautiful ode to the American Southwest, loneliness and the myth of the American family, Criterion’s Blu-ray edition is as much a gift to Wim Wenders fans as last fall’s release of Wings of Desire was. Without question, this release comes strongly recommended for everyone.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
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