Paris, Texas
Wim Wenders, 1984, 147 min, 12

"Claire Denis worked as an assistant director on Wim Wenders’ Palme d’Or–winning study of masculinity, myth, and disconnection, which remains the director’s most moving and mysterious meditation on the physical and cultural landscape of America. In the deserts of the American Southwest, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) collapses in a saloon after weeks (or months) of aimless wandering. Travis’ brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) collects his estranged sibling and brings him to LA, where Walt and his wife (Aurore Clément) have been raising Travis’ eight-year-old son. As Travis begins to piece his life back together, he becomes determined to set back out on the road in search of his long-lost wife (Nastassja Kinski). Beginning with the geographic juxtaposition of its title, Paris, Texas is an intriguing fusion of artistic and cultural heritages, as the Fordian landscapes, Ry Cooder score, and homegrown existentialism of co-screenwriter Sam Shepard are conjoined to the outsiders’ perspective of Wenders and cinematographer Robby Müller." – TIFF

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Part of our season on Claire Denis