Paris, Texas (1984)

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A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his wife and son four years before. (imdb)

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Directed By: Wim Wenders

Written By: Sam Shepard, L.M. Kit Carson

Starring: Dean Stockwell, Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Aurore Clément, Bernhard Wicki, John Lurie, Viva, Hunter Carson, Claresie Mobley, Socorro Valdez, Edward Fayton, Sam Berry

Genre: Drama

Country: France, USA, West Germany

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Paris, Texas belongs to 98 collections

1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)

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43. IMDb Top of The 1980's (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 4 stars)

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56. Cannes 1984 Official Selection (collaborative - 1 star)

57. Texas (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 1 star)

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All Ratings | With Reviews

Order by:

TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
14	KMcNeil	10 _98th
A visual poem. Switching between partial and complete silence, whilst imbuing every colorful technicolor composition with a yearning for the unknown and for a past often only hinted at. A rare movie at once weirdly comfortable and uncomfortable in its own skin, its own celluloid. Just like Travis (the main character). One of the best reflections on loneliness and the search for forgiveness I've ever seen.
11	Barthalen	84 _90th
An affecting story about loss, sacrifice, the (self-made) barriers between people and the hope for something better. Perfect for a lazy, melancholy sunday. I had no idea this starred the late and great Harry Dean Stanton and that was such a welcome surprise. Straightforward but subtly beautiful/heartbreaking.
8	Alex Watkins	5 _91st
I doubt if there's another film anywhere in the world quite like this one. It has the languid melancholy of a Jim Jarmusch film, but instead of Jarmusch's off-kilter, surreal humor is a nostalgic aching. It feels like nothing less than an open diary of the thoughts and feelings of somebody who's been deeply wounded beyond comprehension or measure. Describing the magic it works on me is beyond my abilities, and I'm just as happy to keep it a mystery.
7	frederic_g54	9 _90th
As quietly aching as its gorgeously shot Texan outback, Paris, Texas is a beautiful film about lost love and the void it often leaves behind. I love how Shepard adopts a nonjudgmental attitude towards his characters with Stanton perfectly capturing his character's loneliness and inner turmoil. This movie is to me like a good wine: given sufficient room to breathe, devoid of excessive substances and one that packs a hefty - and in this case emotional - punch. Highly recommended!
6	NathanDarko	97 _96th
leaving the past behind often means making a hard cut. getting confronted with things from yesterday can hurt so much and it does take time to be back with your mind. some things might never be the same again.hard for yourself and even harder for your fellow men. wenders best work with awesome cinematographic moments enhanced through wonderful sounds by Cooder.some shots really left me breathless.
6	guy piranha	80 _90th
distance is a big theme here, between people, between places, between people and places...and how both can be together while miles apart, or be separate while closely together. some distances can't be overcome, while others were never really there. a family is scattered across wildly different plains of existence, and paris is in texas. it's not an easy watch, but a rewarding one.
5	djross	50 _43rd
Over-praised. An atmospheric, evocative and intriguing beginning, well photographed, starring Harry Dean Stanton and with a great score by Ry Cooder, but all that is wasted when the story turns to contrived and uninteresting melodramatics. In the end it becomes silly.
4	Moribunny	95 _98th
Wonderful, and rewards repeated viewings. Wenders is a patient and sensitive director, but his writing tends toward meandering, artsy pomposity. Fortunately, L.M. Kit Carson (better known for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) penned a great adaptation of what must be a great book by Sam Shepard, giving Wenders an opportunity to show just how focused and attentive he can be when given a good story. HDS and Kinski's performances in particular are unforgettable.
4	Pickpocket	6 _55th
I liked it despite that horrible, melodramatic ending. The beginning hour is awesome but it just starts to gradually fall apart. The best part of the movie was the surprising (and satisfying) John Lurie cameo.
4	Spunkie	75 _90th
Legacy behind P.T. is frightening. I was convinced I had to force myself to sit through it. First attention to each and every framing caught my eye. Then the unique feeling got under my skin each and every minute. Disbelief got suspended. This is a very hard pacing to pull off and a director has to be suicidal to attempt it. Even if a bit overrated I'm sure it's uncopiable and unrepeatable. Ending is awful though (which took me back to beginning).
4	brando814	96 _95th
It's a remarkable story of how we can't forgive ourselves for driving a wedge between ourselves and those we love most.
4	KasperL	85 _93rd
Aesthetically pleasing. Understated. Simple. Beautiful. The monologue at the end is one to behold. A great movie.
4	Cinema_Asia	85 _92nd
Gorgeously shot film that is about a broken family and how one father deals with his own internalized jealousy, hurt, and emotional turmoil. Harry Dean Stanton is great in this but his character's past and his motivations for running are a little difficult to understand. The beginning 30 minutes of the film is also a bit odd and doesn't exactly fit the tone of the second half. I saw this film on blu-ray and it still looks very timeless. Even with its flaws overall it's still a pretty great film.
3	Suture Self	8 _81st
Little by little we piece together the story until it finally comes together full circle at the very end. The ending moments are poetic.
3	Puya	96 _97th
great movie,I guess everyone feels like running away and getting lost from time to time
2	immolations	80 _80th
It starts with images of a barren landscape and a man confused and lost. Gradually, these themes are introduced into the plot as he is reintroduced to his life. Wenders deserves praise for attempting to make a film that purposefully feels so devoid of emotion, but this does effect the pacing. Overall a strong film which I'll probably enjoy more as I get older.
2	Der_Barney	95 _99th
Hated it when I saw it on TV as a teenager, turned it off (Boooo-ring, right? WRONG!). Decided to give it another shot 15 years and some 1,000 movies later and never regretted it. "Paris, Texas" is truthful, stunningly beautiful, deeply compelling and memorable. The "peep show sequence" is one of the most stirring things I've ever experienced in a movie and it is where the story arc comes full circle so you finally UNDERSTAND what the subdued performances had only been hinting at so far. Wow.
2	hehejaja	90 _91st
Genuinly touching; it manage to mirror conditions and longings universally valid... The sincere ambiguity disclosing a deliberate (but often far from assertive) compassion for the characters - and an understanding of the outlandish human spirit - enforce heartfelt empathy.
2	lauratron	97 _99th
Now THIS is film-making!
2	Rufam	75 _72nd
"Paris, Texas" represents what happens when a very simple, mundane even script falls into the hands of a brilliant arthouse auteur. Wenders lends the film its beauty, holding onto the silent moments, enriching the color palette and adding a magnificent countryish soundtrack. The actors are also great -Stanton is particularly excellent in an understated turn. But the story at the center is one-note and even melodramatic. Still, Wenders' vision assures the film's emotional resonance.
2	dunbar	82 _80th
It's one for atmosphere and cinematography. Beautifully shot. The story doesn't quite hold up to the imagery.
2	SheWas	99 _99th
A perfect sunya of urban and deserted, living in the wilde void or the family dream. Lucky are these that this film is strange to their bodys and yet, planted deep down in their hearts, enough to enjoy this remarkable example of cinematic art.
2	Nepeta	100 _99th
The whole film feels like it's just building up to the climactic 20 minute dialogue which is devastating and one of my favourite scenes in all of cinema.
2	MacSwell	95 _97th
Everything in the film - Harry Dean Stanton's stoic performance, Ry Cooder's masterful slide guitar music, the elegiac photography of rural America and the bittersweet ending - comes together to create an altogether bleak but beautiful work of art.
2	backwardsuit	81 _83rd
Creates a wonderful laid back aesthetic and rhythm that's only slightly broken by the half-assed narrative that doesn't seem to know how to allocate tension. Struggles maintaing focus or the lack of it in a truly rewarding way but finds evocative poetic approaches to American road and family that feel effortlessly whole, especially with Harry Dean Stanton wandering between them.
2	Hawkins	74 _55th
Mysterious road movie dissolves into artful Jerry Springer episode. Great visuals, potent color scheme (strong greens vs. red, white, blue), Ry Cooder's score fits perfectly. It's cool that Wenders let the kid improvise lines but every time he spoke the movie got worse. The final scene rambles for ten minutes too long but it's one of Harry Dean Stanton's finest moments - a one-way mirror confessional from a man haunted, unable to confront himself. His pathos is remarkable.
2	zmoats	98 _99th
Someday, I will find the words to tell you what this movie means to me. I can't recall a movie with better pacing or writing. It meandered in moments of being lost, causing the audience to feel the same. It refused to let you leave the moments of devastation, even when the characters were gone. I think that why it has had such a lasting effect on me. Wim Wenders direction, Carson's adaptation, Stanton's performance - there were so many things to love. And I won't stop loving them.
1	MartinTeller	54 _10th
Cheap symbolism, cheap quirky gimmicks (these must be more lame stories about amnesia than actual cases of amnesia), cheap dramatics. I don't care much for Harry Dean Stanton in the first place, his sad sack routine gets tiresome. The film sets up a melancholy little mystery for which the payoff is beyond disappointing. Nothing that happens in the entire movie feels genuine. It's not boring, but it sure isn't very satisfying. Some nice visuals, though.
1	tasog37	89 _72nd
Wonderfully constructed final act; obviously fantastic aesthetics that really pull you into the story. Spoiler of sorts: a bit problematic, narratively, as the film spends so much time building up the Walt and Anne characters only to completely abandon them half way through.
1	schnofel	54 _42nd
A long slog on the way to its final facile revelations. Filling the silences and words with memory is some handsome Americana.
1	PeaceAnarchy	90 _94th
Wonderful film that captivated me much more than I expected. Even though it's one single story the film really feels split in two with regard to pacing and theme, with each part having it's own climax. Even though I couldn't relate to the characters I really felt connected to them, the mark of a good film. The ending felt a little off to me in a way I can't describe without spoiling it, but it did have some level of appropriateness to the characters.
1	AFlickering	7 _95th
the title is a paradox of course, visualised most memorably when that great institution of american cinema - the car chase - comes to a fork in the road, identical cars taking each route. then there's the plot of land to which it refers; seen only in a photo, and empty just like the vistas and highways are empty, yet pregnant with potential for any idealist who may look at it. the american dream as naive and illusory, but also as inspiration, a place of conception and the possibility to rebuild.
1	prowler	79 _80th
filmic poetry
1	Aslak	9 _92nd
Great movie.. awesome music by Ry Cooder.
1	purgatos	83 _78th
An interesting exploration of a man and his feelings as we follow his discovery of who he is and was. We don't get bogged down too much by details, with the story only giving as much as it needs to in order to make sense of what's happening. The change in scenery that takes us from the barren desert to the busy city as Travis' life comes back into focus is brilliantly executed and Harry Dean Stanton's performance is terrific.
1	Obdurate	50 _14th
I won't deny that the final bit had some solid emotional oomph, even if his confessional went on a little too long. I also won't deny that Stanton was great. Can't hate on the colour usage, cinematography and directing in general, because the movie was at least visually interesting. But this was a slog. It meandered way too much. The story was ho-hum, never really going anywhere, creating a mystery that the reveal didn't live up to. And the kid was atrocious, except the hug at the end.
1	tathiel	80 _67th
It is an interesting movie, complex characters, absorbing plot. Harry Dean Stanton is a real great, too much overseen actor.
1	QVT	50 _56th
Very disappointed, so slow and boring. But that's fine ( slowness) if there is some payoff or whatever. This is just a bad story. And what the fuck, did that kid chew a bunch of feathers before speaking? Sounded like his mouth was full of feathers. However, it is a visual masterpiece.
1	Bown	91 _94th
Sometimes sweet, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes mysterious, but always incredibly interesting and wonderfully photographed. The climactic scenes are simply perfect.
1	katje_	93 _97th
Just chocked me in every single way. Unforgettable, beautiful.
1	Henrik	95 _98th
Poetic filmmaking at its best - with a mesmerising Harry Dean Stanton.
1	paulin	91 _87th
There is something so spacious, graceful and wonderful about this; so many strands to pick and connect and put together and then release and re-shuffle. The pace, Ry Cooder's soundtrack, the vast and somewhat drained landscape all work sublimely with the restrained storytelling and, in contrast, potent dialogue. Also, Hunter is a wonderful kid.
1	closedmouth	80 _67th
I felt it sagged in the middle (Wenders spent way too long in LA, my interest began to drift around the point the sassy Mexican lady showed up) but the opening and closing sections in Texas are just about perfect, so hey.
1	snallygaster	74 _83rd
I like the first half (or so) the best; the plot seems to wander around vaguely with a lot of themes bubbling under the surface but none of them really coming to the fore. At some point it takes off into melodrama, where a lot wouldn't really make sense in a world without an audience. The long dialogue scene is the most Bergmanian thing I've seen outside of Bergman, and while it's well-done, it didn't really satisfy my longing to escape back to a less contrived world.
1	Dumptruk4Lif	90 _75th
There's many things to like about this movie, but a big problem I have with it is how disappointed I was with the ending and about the last 30 minutes leading up to it. The 2 way mirror scene starts off fine, but I don't know why Stanton's character makes that decision at the end. I just felt so disappointed. I've also never watched a movie in so many small increments. I probably stopped and came back to it 5 or 6 times, it moves at a molasses pace. Beautiful cinematography too. <3 Robby Mull
1	Vauth	88 _80th
Captivating film. The contemplative, almost dreamy pace of the film is perfect for its subject of isolation and emptiness where one spends most of his time in his head wandering and wondering. Harry Stanton's acting is brilliant and captures his subtly complex character greatly, especially for the opening and the conclusion.
1	W00DY	97 _99th
A heartbreaking exploration of forgiveness, alienation, loneliness and reationships. Every aspect of this movie is perfect.
1	lex	70 _28th
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this kind of movie but despite some stellar cinematography and some great performances I thought it was boring and never felt any real emotional impact in its melodramatic setup. Felt to me like Terrence Malick done wrong. Might have to give it another chance as I seem to be the only one not satisfied with it.
1	Spaceghost	85 _85th
I think I almost cried during the last couple scenes, either because I was emotionally moved or because I didn't want to blink, I'm not sure which. If you like the character studies in The Searchers and/or Taxi Driver, or the marginal America of Easy Rider and/or Five Easy Pieces, then you'll probably like this. Beautiful cinematography and brilliant performances all around to boot.
1	redflag	100 _98th
Sublime. I've driven these lost highways and, yes, there's nothing out there, but God if it isn't beautiful.
1	JSchlansky	97 _97th
I could stare at Harry Dean Stanton's face for an eon
1	awaep	93 _99th
You say Paris and the other thinks of France.The pause that will precede the clarification,the pause that will fill the gap between what our mother really was and her idea,the idea that perhaps a built Paris is more important than a deserted one,in the idea that ideas are more important than the truth of people,than the truth that so often it's unbearable for two people to live together and to lock the truth of one with the truth of the other,in this pause people stand and get hurted.

Average Percentile 76.32% from 3418 Ratings