Paris, Texas | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Wim Wenders |
Produced by |
Anatole Dauman Don Guest |
Written by |
L. M. Kit Carson Sam Shepard |
Starring | |
Music by | Ry Cooder |
Cinematography | Robby Müller |
Edited by | Peter Przygodda |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Tobis (West Germany) Argos Films (France) Palace Pictures (UK) 20th Century Fox (US) |
Release date
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Running time
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147 minutes |
Country | West Germany France United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.8 million |
Box office | $2.2 million |
Paris, Texas is a 1984 drama film directed by Wim Wenders and starring Harry Dean Stanton, , Nastassja Kinski, and Hunter Carson. The screenplay was written by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, and the distinctive musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The cinematography was by Robby Müller. The film was a co-production between companies in France and West Germany, and was filmed in the United States.
The plot focuses on an amnesiac (Stanton) who, after mysteriously wandering out of the desert, attempts to reconnect with his brother (Stockwell) and seven-year-old son (Carson). He and his son end up embarking on a voyage through the American Southwest to track down his long-missing wife (Kinski).
The film unanimously won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival from the official jury, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection.
Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) is walking alone across a vast South Texas desert landscape. Looking for water, he enters a saloon and collapses. He is treated by a doctor (Bernhard Wicki), but does not speak or respond to questions. The doctor finds a phone number on Travis, calls the Los Angeles number, and reaches his brother, Walt Henderson (), who agrees to pick him up. When Walt arrives in Texas, he discovers that Travis is gone. When he finds him wandering alone, Walt tells his silent brother that he will take him back to Los Angeles. They stop at a motel, but Travis wanders off again. Walt finds him, and the two drive to a diner, where Walt begins to question the still silent Travis more forcefully about his disappearance. Walt and his wife, Anne (Aurore Clément), have not heard from Travis in four years. After Travis abandoned his son Hunter (Hunter Carson), Walt and Anne took care of him for four years. Travis is visibly moved by the mention of his son, and tears flow from his eyes.