Paris, Texas

PARIS, TEXAS is considered Wenders’s best-known and internationally most successful film. Celebrated by critics, it won a series of important international awards, including the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

This unconventional road movie is based on a script by Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard and tells the story of Travis (Harry Dean Stanton), a man who wanders out of Mexico and into Texas one day, in the blazing heat of the “Big Bend”. Travis does not speak a word. He also seems to have largely lost his memory. But he is driven by his wish to find his family again: his young wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski), whose life he seems to have placed in danger through his pathological jealousy, and his seven-year-old son Hunter (Hunter Carson). For four years, Travis was thought to be dead. His brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) flies from LA to Texas to bring back his lost brother.

Walt and his wife Ann (Aurore Clément) have become Hunter’s foster parents. It is very difficult for the two of them to now give this role up again, especially when they learn that Travis wants to go out in search of Jane together with his son. They know nothing about her, except that she probably lives in Houston …

In addition to the impressive performances by Harry Dean Stanton, as Travis, and Nastassja Kinski, as Jane, PARIS, TEXAS has also become a cult film on account of the unique soundtrack by Ry Cooder.

Format

West Germany/France 1983/1984
Length: 148 min, 4189 m
Format: 35mm colour; 1:1.66; Stereo
Original Language: English

4K Scan L’immagine Ritrovata and 2K Restoration Éclair Group 2014, 2K DCP


Festivals & Awards

1984 • Cannes International Filmfestival: Palme D’Or
1984 • Cannes International Filmfestival: FIPRESCI-Prize (Prize oft the Economic Jury)
1984 • Prix Léon-Moussinac (Best Foreign Film)
1984 • German Camera Award (Category Feature Film: Robby Müller)
1984 • British Academy Awards (Best Director)

1985 • German Film Award in Silver (further full-length Feature Film)
1985 • Gilde-Filmprize in Silver (Best National Film)


Cast and crew

Production: Road Movies Filmproduktion GmbH (Berlin), Argos Films S.A. (Neuilly-sur-Seine), Pro-ject Filmproduktion im Filmverlag der Autoren GmbH (Munich) Director: Wim Wenders Producer: Wim Wenders, Chris Sievernich Screenplay: Sam Shepard Director of Photography: Robby Müller Editor: Peter Przygodda Sound: Jean-Paul Mugel Cast: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, Hunter Carson, Bernhard Wicki

Assistant Director: Claire Denis, Michael Helfand Adaption: L.M. Kit Carson Script: Helen Caldwell Music: Ry Cooder In Cooperation with: Westdeutscher Rundfunk (Cologne), Channel Four (London), Grey City Inc. (New York) Assistant Camera: Pim Tjujerman, Agnès Godard, Martin Schär Assistant Editor: Anne Schnee, Barbara von Weitershausen Still Photographer: Robin Holland Sound Editor: Dominique Auvray Sound Assistant: Douglas Axtell Re-recording: Lothar Mankewitz Re-recording Mixer: Hartmut Eichgrün Light: Greg Gardiner, Scott Guthrie Set Design: Kate Altman Assistant Set Design: Lorrie Brown Set: Robert K. Feldmann Set Assistant: Arthur Blum Set Decorator: Kim Buckley (Los Angeles), Anne Kuljian (Texas) Wardrobe: Birgitta Bjerke, Roberta Elkins Make-up: Charles Balazs Hairstyle: Charles Balazs Music Execution: Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Jim Dickinson Production Manager: Karen Koch Production Assistant: Bonna Newman, Allison Anders, Scott Kirby, Dean Lent, Patrick Kreuzer Co-Producer: Anatole Dauman, Pascale Dauman Production Coordinator: Dianne Lisa Cheek Location Manager: Susan Elkins (Texas), Jim Thompson (Los Angeles) Line Producer: Don Guest Editorial Office: Joachim von Mengershausen (WDR); David Rose, Walter Donohue (Channel 4) Casting: Gary Chason, Sheila Possner Office: Lilyan Sievernich (New York), Sarah Fitzsimmons (L.A.) Primary Distribution: Filmverlag der Autoren GmbH & Co. Vertriebs KG (Munich) Shooting: 29.09.1983 – 11.12.1983 in Big Bend, Marathon, Fort Stockton, El Paso, Houston, Nordheim, Port Arthur (Texas), Four Corners, Los Angeles, Burbank, Ocean Way Studios/L.A. (California), Deming (Mexico) Premiere (FR): 19.5.1984, Cannes International Filmfestival; (DE): 24.10.1984, Hof Filmfestival First Release (DE): 06.03.1988, ARD World Sales: HanWay Films


Blu-ray & DVD

 

BLU RAY (DE)
Arthaus/Studiocanal
Language/Sound: German, English (5.1 DTS-HD MA)
Subtitles: German
Image Format: 1,78:1 1080/24p Full HD

 

DVD – Premium edition (DE)
Arthaus/Studiocanal
Language/Sound: German, English (5.1 Dolby Digital, Stereo Dolby Digital)
Subtitles: German
Image Format: 1,85:1

 

DVD  (DE)
Arthaus/Studiocanal
Language/Sound: German (5.1 Dolby Digital)
Subtitles: German
Image Format: 1,85:1

 

BLU RAY (FR)
Arte Editions
Language/Sound: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0)
Subtitles: French
Image Format: 1.78:1, 1920 X 1080P

 

DVD (FR)
Arte Editions
Language/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: French
Image Format: 1,66:1

 

DVD&BR (USA)
The Criterion Collection
Language/Sound: English (surround)
Image Format: 1.78:1

 

BLU RAY (IT)
Ripley’s Home Video
Language/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 / PCM)
Subtitles: Italian
Image Format: 16:9

 

DVD (IT)
Ripley’s Home Video
Language/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Stereo), Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles: Italian
Image Format: 1.66:1

 

BLU RAY (GB)
Axiom Films
Language/Sound: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles: English SDH
Image Format: 1.78:1, 1080p

 

DVD (GB)
Axiom Films
Language/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English
Image Format: 1.78:1

 


Book to the film

Paris Texas
Wim Wenders, Sam Shepard
Road Movies & Greno, Berlin 1984
511 pages, Softcover
ISBN: 3921568110

Out of print

 


Press Sheet (PDF)

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