Paris, Texas
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Movie Reviews of Paris, Texas
Movie Review: 5 Stars
You must love this movie if you love movies at all.If you used to watch tra-la-la-obla-di-obla-da then you rather pass this one by and don't comment something outside of your little world.
Movie Review: to those who are unpatient stay away
Summary: 5 Stars
Im' a big fan of Harry Dean Stanton, and this his his best role so far........Movie Review: And Now For Something Completely Different
Summary: 4 Stars
Before you rush out and buy the "Paris, Texas" (1984) DVD based on the many glowing reviews and comments, you may want a bit of a reality check. The film is 145 minutes long, that's almost two and a half hours. And not much happens during this time. The pacing is about on the level of "The Straight Story" (1999), which was only 112 minutes; so if that film had you climbing the walls you should probably steer clear of this one.
On the other hand "Paris, Texas" is a technical masterpiece with great photography, excellent directing, and solid performances from the entire cast (although that cast is small). And it's a lyrically told story about loss, loneliness, and eccentricity; a look America and American values from an outside perspective (in this case European). I'm not sure that the film's message(s) is gotten across (unless you listen to the commentary feature on the DVD and maybe not even then) but it is certainly more coherent than when Michelangelo Antonioni tried to do the same thing in the early 1970's.
The film opens with a wanderer walking alone in the desert. You eventually learn that this is not Howard Hughes but Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton), that he has been missing the past four years, has semi-amnesia (a lot is made of this but the condition is never adequately explained), has a seven year-old son name Hunter (Hunter Carson), and a wife named Jane (Nastassia Kinski). Kinski fans will be somewhat disappointed as she does not even appear until the last third of the film (except briefly in some grainy home movies).
The film could actually be classified as a "buddy picture-road movie" or two buddy picture- road movies. The first third features Travis and his brother's (Dean Stockwell) journey from Texas to LA, the final third Travis and his son's journey back to Texas. The weakest part is the middle third which serves little purpose other than providing some background details and linking the two journey segments.
Because "Paris, Texas" is not your standard pre-sold commercial product, most of its suspense comes from the viewers themselves, who have little idea just where the film is headed. So if you watch a lot of films and are jaded because everything is so predictable, this movie viewing experience should be a nice change of pace.
Because you haven't met these characters in other films, it takes a lot of storytelling to flesh them out, which is probably the biggest reason for the film's extended running length. Sam Shepard's script is not so much elliptical as it is evasive, somehow the characters tell us their most basic beliefs and deepest fears without really revealing anything about themselves (insert "Two Lane Blacktop" here).
German New Wave director Wenders gets an astonishingly unaffected performance from young Hunter Carson, as convincing as any you are likely to find. Carson never did much after this amazing debut.
The most intriguing sequences take place between Stanton and Kinski. The actors are never face-to-face as their characters speak to each other from opposite sides of one-way mirror. Travis has found Jane working in a seedy shop where lonely men pay to talk to women on the telephone.?
The DP fills the screen with images of people dwarfed by vast, distant, and impersonal land/ cityscapes. The most effective and original is a sequence of Travis walking along a bridge over a LA interstate with the audio supplied by an unseen (until the end) and rambling derelict addressing the bumper to bumper traffic rushing by below.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Movie Review: Destructive power of jealous love
Summary: 4 Stars
It has been almost 25 years since this film won the Cannes Film Festival prize. You know this film was made a while ago becuase in one scene we see one of the characters smoking while on the air flight from California to Texas. It is a story of a man who has been missing for four years. He has been wondering thru Texas until his brother was notified about his wheeabouts. It is a reluctant gathering between the two brothers particularly once it becomes obvious that the missing brother has 8-year old child that has been cared for by his aunt and uncle for the last four years. Emotions, family ties, future are all at stake. There is a mystery about marriage break up of the older brother and almost simultaneous disapperance between himself and his wife. As story slowly unforld we learn about strong and passionate love between two people that brought them both destruction and separated them from their little boy. It is also a story about the things that we most strongly imagine that become frightening reality. Can it be that our thought and actions are so powerful that things we fear the most can become reality? Well this film certainly shows that is quite possible. As Travis (main character) is found by accident, the only way he can give his family a second chance is if he disappers again. Because his love for Jane, his wife, is still strong, but he knows well by now that it has destructive powers to it. Emotionally charged movie that requires certain sense of maturity from its audiences. Definitely an acquired taste. Nastassja Kinski is so young and beautiful!Movie Review: A great movie artistically, but a better outcome would have been nice.
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is for the 2004 DVD release by 20th Century Fox.
I really loved the look of this movie when it started in West Texas and the cinematography was astounding. The soundtrack by Ry Cooder also fit the mood of the desert perfectly. The main character is Travis, (Harry Dean Stanton), who wanders recklessly in the Texas desert. He is later rescued by his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), and Walt takes him back to Los Angeles to be with Walt's wife and Hunter, the son of Travis whom he abandoned 4 years earlier. We see the household situation that Hunter has been placed in with Walt and his loving wife the past several years and it seems very healthy and stable.
The film slowly moves in a direction where it appears that Travis wants to put his life back in order. Finally there is a plan to reunite Travis, his son and estranged wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski). After some amateur detective work they find Jane in Houston. There is one powerful scene where Travis confesses to Jane why he left her. The final outcome is a blemish for this film in my opinion - especially the social placement of the young boy (if you realize in what situation he was in when the movie started and what circumstance he was in when the film ended). But all in all, it's a beautifully filmed movie that's very good, but a better ending could have made it a great movie.
The DVD picture quality and audio are first rate. The only bonus feature is optional real-time commentary by director Wim Wenders.
Movie: B
DVD Quality: A