Paris, Texas (1984)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

L.M. Kit Carson (adaptation)
Sam Shepard (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A place for dreams. A place for heartbreak. A place to pick up the pieces.

Plot:

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Hotel | Train | Boots | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Harry Dean Stanton	...	Travis Henderson
Sam Berry	...	Gas Station Attendant
Bernhard Wicki	...	Doctor Ulmer
Dean Stockwell	...	Walt Henderson
Aurore Clément	...	Anne Henderson (as Aurore Clement)
Claresie Mobley	...	Car Rental Clerk
Hunter Carson	...	Hunter Henderson
Viva	...	Woman on TV (as Viva Auder)
Socorro Valdez	...	Carmelita
Edward Fayton	...	Hunter's Friend
Justin Hogg	...	Hunter - Age 3
Nastassja Kinski	...	Jane Henderson
Tom Farrell	...	Screaming Man
John Lurie	...	Slater
Jeni Vici	...	Stretch
Sally Norvell	...	Nurse Bibs
Sharon Menzel	...	Comedienne
The Mydolls	...	Rehearsing Band
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Shepard	...	(unconfirmed)
Brandy Tipton	...	Hunter's Girlfriend (scenes deleted)

Directed by
Wim Wenders

Writing credits
L.M. Kit Carson		(adaptation)
Sam Shepard		(written by)

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer
Pascale Dauman	....	associate producer
Don Guest	....	producer
Chris Sievernich	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ry Cooder

Cinematography by
Robby Müller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Przygodda

Casting by
Gary Chason

Art Direction by
Kate Altman

Costume Design by
Birgitta Bjerke

Makeup Department
Karoly Balazs	....	hair stylist (as Charles Balazs)
Karoly Balazs	....	makeup artist (as Charles Balazs)

Production Management
Udo Heiland	....	post-production manager
Karen Koch	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claire Denis	....	assistant director
Michael Helfand	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Lorrie Brown	....	assistant art director
Kimberly Buckley	....	property master (as Kim Buckley)
Craig Busch	....	assistant props: Texas
Anne Kuljian	....	set decorator: Los Angeles

Sound Department
Dominique Auvray	....	sound editor
Douglas Axtell	....	boom operator
Hartmut Eichgrün	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lothar Mankewitz	....	sound processor
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound mixer (as Jean Paul Mugel)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Blum	....	best boy grip
Robert K. Feldmann	....	key grip (as Robert Feldman)
Kevin Galbraith	....	electrician
Greg Gardiner	....	gaffer
Agnès Godard	....	first assistant camera
Scott Guthrie	....	best boy electric
Robin Holland	....	still photographer
Martin Schäfer	....	camera operator: additional photography, second unit
Pim Tjujerman	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Sheila Possner	....	casting coordinator: Los Angeles

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Roberta Elkins	....	wardrobe assistant: Texas

Editorial Department
Anne Schnee	....	assistant editor
Joachim von Mengershausen	....	commissioning editor: WDR (as J. Von Mengershausen)

Transportation Department
Homer Albin	....	driver
Lynn Brisbin	....	driver
Al Cantu	....	driver
Charles Griffith	....	driver (as Charlie Griffith)
Carl Johnson	....	driver
Tom Kelton	....	driver
Richard Padgett	....	driver
B.C. Smith	....	driver

Other crew
Allison Anders	....	production assistant
Helen Caldwell	....	script supervisor
Walter Donohue	....	story editor: Channel 4
Susan Elkins	....	location manager: Texas
Sarah Fitzsimmons	....	office coordinator: New York
Scott Kirby	....	production assistant
Patric Kreuzer	....	production assistant
Dean Lent	....	production assistant
Barbara Lucey	....	accountant
Dianne Mapp-Cheek	....	production coordinator (as Dianne Lisa Cheek)
Sherry McBride	....	caterer: Texas
Bonna Newman	....	production assistant
Lilyan Sievernich	....	office coordinator: New York
James Thompson	....	location manager: Los Angeles (as Jim Thompson)
Susanna Virtanen	....	post-production office

Thanks
Lotte Eisner	....	dedicatee (as Lotte H. Eisner)
Barbara von Weitershausen	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Road Movies Filmproduktion
• Argos Films
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) (in association with)
• Channel Four Films (in association with)
• Pro-ject Filmproduktion (in association with)

Distributors

• Argos Films (1984) (France) (theatrical)
• ELKE (1984) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Axiom Films (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Lii-Filmi (1984) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Look Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Madman Entertainment (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Palace Video (1984) (UK) (video) (video 2000)
• Primer Plano Film Group (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• SBP (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• T:mi Pekka Pietislä (19??) (Finland) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• marketing-film

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Motel Chronicles (West Germany) (working title)
Paris, Texas (West Germany)
Párizs, Texas (Hungary) [hu]
Paríz, Texas (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Paris, Texas (Brazil) [pt]
Paris, Texas (Austria) [de]
Paris, Texas (Argentina) [es]
Paris, Texas (Finland) [fi]
Parisi - Texas (Greece) [el]
Paryz, Teksas (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

West Germany | France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | UK:12 (DVD rating) (2007) | West Germany:6 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:R | France:U | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

10060 Olivia Terrace, Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Road Movies Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Composer Ry Cooder recreated blues guitarist Blind Willie Johnson's 1927 tune "Dark Was the Night" as the centerpiece of his Paris, Texas (1984) soundtrack.

Goofs:

Continuity: Travis and his brother check into a small motel on their first night, where we see a dresser with an ugly lamp sitting on top. After Travis runs off, they continue down the road and stay in a larger hotel, where we see the same dresser and light.

Quotes:

Walt: I thought you were afraid of heights.
Travis: I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of fallin'.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gossip Girl: The Ex-Files (#2.4)" (2008)

Starring: the landscape...

I felt so tired of all those comments saying how beautiful the photography is or, for those who havent enjoyed the film, how the photography isnt enough to sustain the whole silentness of the first 2/3 of the movie.

It just sounds like a hollow praise for a hollow minded cute, blonde and gorgeous girl. In fact, it is an offense.

For a director that first was inspired by images and then looked for stories to fill them and give them reasons to be released as films (he says this in a book). Wenders achieves his high technical and vision point concerning his way of thinking, not just film but life in this masterpiece.

He had before discussed the production of images and how this affects our way of seeing and perceiving life. But in Paris, Texas the image, the landscapes really becomes a character, not just to give a good photography and make those 2 1/2 hours that the movie lasts oh!!, so beatiful to watch!!, or to make us get in its atmosphere... The landscapes are so important as the words, or actions, between the characters are, it really touches people surrounded by it, it influences some how their personalities. I mean, each photograme tries to bring this relation.

It is beautiful how Wenders can build his caracters personalities, not by the way they think or act, but what impresses them, what visually interests them - like when Travis is watching not the airplane, but its shadow on the ground while it takes off.

After all that, i can just say that the rest of the whole story is made by really beautiful, touching and delicate situations of a man's life trying to reorder the lost pieces from a puzzle.

And, yes, the conversation between Travis and his ex-wife by the last half hour to the end is one of the most touching moments seen on the screen.