Paris, Texas [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Wim Wenders, Win Wenders Wim Wenders

Overview

"Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is wandering through the Texas desert, a bit shaky and in desperate need of water, when he stumbles into a bar and collapses. A German doctor of dubious credentials finds a phone number in Travis' wallet, which belongs to his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell). Walt is shocked to hear about his brother's condition, since no one in the family has seen or heard from Travis in four years; Walt flies to Texas to bring him home, only to find Travis wandering by the side of the road, and they begin the long drive back to Los Angeles, where Walt lives with his wife, Anne (Aurore Clement), and Hunter (Hunter Carson), Travis' seven-year-old son. At first, Travis refuses to speak and is oddly distant, but in time he begins to talk again, and when he arrives in California, he begins the painful process of reacquainting himself with his son and trying to reconcile with his wife, Jane (Nastassia Kinski)."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/25/2006
UPC:	0715515052313
Original Release:	1984
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:25:00

Special Features

Audio commentary featuring Wenders; Video interview with Wenders by German journalist Roger Willemsen; Excerpts from a 1990 documentary on Wenders, featuring interviews with Wenders, cinematographer Robby Müller, composer Ry Cooper, actors Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Peter Falk, and Hanns Zischler, novelist Patricia Highsmith, and director Samuel Fuller; New video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Claire Denis; "Wim Wenders hollywood April '84," a segment from the french television program cinema cinemas showing Wenders and Cooder at work on the score; Deleted scenes and super 8 home movies; Gallery of Wender's location-scouting photos; Behind-the-scenes photos by Robin Holland; Theatrical trailer; Plus-a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Nick Roddick, interviews with Stanton, writer Sam Shepard, and actors Nastassja Kinski and Dean Stockwell, and excerpts from Wender's book of photos written in the west

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Harry Dean Stanton	Travis
Nastassja Kinski	Jane
Dean Stockwell	Walt
Hunter Carson	Hunter
Bernhard Wicki	Dr. Ulmer
Viva Auder	Woman on TV
Socorro Valdez	Carmelita
Tommy Farrell	Screaming Man
John Lurie	Slater
Jeni Vici	Stretch
Sally Norvell	Nurse Bibs
Sam Berry	Gas Station Attendant
Claresie Mobley	Car Rental Clerk
Justin Hogg	Hunter at Age 3
Edward Fayton	Hunter's Friend
Sharon Menzel	Comedienne
Sam Shepard	Actor
Aurore Clément	Anne
Aurore Clement	Actor
Ry Cooder	Composer

Technical Credits

Sam Shepard

L.M. Kit Carson

Don Guest	Producer
Chris Sievernich	Executive Producer,Producer
Wim Wenders	Director,Director
Anatole Dauman	Producer
Sam Shepard	Screenwriter
L.M. Kit Carson	Screenwriter
Dominique Auvray	Sound Effects,Sound Editor
Douglas Axtell	Sound Effects
Jean-Paul Mugel	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Paris, Texas may be the finest of Wim Wenders' "road movies", a deliberately paced but deeply moving story of a man at the end of his emotional rope who is given an unexpected chance to heal both his scars and those he has inflicted on others. Harry Dean Stanton gives perhaps his finest performance -- few actors could pull off a scene like the long monologue he shares with Kinski near the film's conclusion -- and he is ably supported by Stockwell and by the young Carson, son of L.M. Kit Carson, who adapted the screenplay from Sam Shepard's Motel Chronicles. Robby Müller's photography and Ry Cooder's score add immeasurably to the impact of this superlative mood piece.