82 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
pure heart, Texas style, June 24, 2005
Sam Shepard, the actor-writer, wrote this beautiful film; his friend Wim Wenders directed it. This is a cinematic emotional masterpiece with a core that points straight to the things we love and says, Are we in love with them as they are, or as we imagine them to be?
The title is a perfect representation of this point; it's the town where Travis, played by Harry Dean Stanton in probably his best role on screen, was conceived and where his father said his mother was from, without giving the name of the state, only the town. Paris--as in France--is the fantasy. Paris--as in Texas--is the reality. Did his father love his mother for what she was, a plain girl from Texas, or what he imagined her to be, a "fancy woman" from France?
Travis has the same problem; he's the real focus of the film and around him the Texas twilight casts long, sad shadows that glisten with hope, brilliant colors, and soon to be approaching night. In him's a heart that's torn between his love for what he knows and for what he wants to run away from, between his son, Hunter, his ex-wife Jane, and himself. The only one of these he knows is real is his son, who's the second core of the film. Hunter is the reality of his marriage to Jane, the one thing he knows is solid and true and right in front of him.
Nobody makes films like this anymore. This was done in 1984 and deservedly won a Palmes d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, one of the top awards given to a film director.
Nobody makes films with this much heart anymore. Things have changed.
Things have changed.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a Perfect Film, September 12, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Paris, Texas [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This is my very favourite movie of all time. This is a perfect film. From Robbie Mueller's breathtaking cinematography, to Ry Cooder's haunting score everything is an excercise in beauty. (Lead actor) Harry Dean Stanton conveys a disturbing yet gentle portrayal of desire, fatherhood, and loss with great lucidity and pathos. Also noteworthy is Nastasja Kinski, whose chemistry with Stanton is unparalleled in recent cinema. The story is certainly one of Sam Sheperd's finest, as is L.M Kit Carson's nuanced adaptation (he wrote the screenplay--and his son plays Hunter, the child star of the film). While this film is a fine achievement in every aspect it is not for the impatient. Some have called it "slow moving," and it is definitely slow in its pace, but one needs time to savour a film of such subtlety as this. Paris Texas is a film that should not be left out of any serious collection, and is a must see for anyone who still regards filmmaking as a craft. I have lost count of how many times I have watched this film and shared it with others.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow, but very rewarding, January 7, 2001
This review is from: Paris, Texas [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This film is a German-French coproduction, so it is interesting as a product of how Americans are viewed by the Europeans. Every scene seems to contain images of something that is decaying or something that is being built. Cars are everywhere. Expansive desert vistas mirror the barrenness of the main character's inner life. Motion is seen as an antidote to pain. The final confrontation between Harry Dean Stanton and Nastasia Kinski is very moving, and the plight of Stanton's character at the end of the film is heartbreaking.
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