|
|
|
|
|
Paris, Texas (Movie) Paris, Texas (1984) is a movie directed by Wim Wenders and is probably his most well-known and critically acclaimed work, in the English speaking world, at least. Sam Shepard wrote the screenplay; the distinctive musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The film stars Harry Dean Stanton as amnesiac Travis, lost for four years, who is taken in by his brother (played by Dean Stockwell). He later tries to put his life back together and understand what happened between him and his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski) and son. The film is named after the Texas town of Paris, although no footage is shot there. Paris, Texas is notably for stunning cinematography of the Texan landscape. The first shot is a bird's eye-view of the desert, a bleak, dry, alien landscape. A hawk lands on a boulder. A man walking alone in the desert stops and looks at the Hawk. He is wearing a cheap Mexican suit and a red baseball cap and has several days of stubble, his ankles are bandaged. He staggers, lost and alone. His clothes are covered in dust and damp with sweat. What is man dressed like this doing here?. The scenery swims by - old advertisement billboards, placards, graffitis, rusty iron carcasses, old railway lines, neon signs motels, roads seemingly never-ending, LA, finally culminating with some famous scenes shot outside a drive-through bank in down-town Houston. This fabulous cinematography was undoubtly due to contributions by Robby Muller, a long-time collaborator of Wim Wenders. "Existentialists invade Texas" - a central theme is social alienation, particularly in an American context. The Texan scenary, both the vastness of the lanscape on the road, and the architecture in the then booming Houston stimulates this atmosphere. The haunting slide-guitar sound-track by Ry Cooder echoes the scenary and the mood. For the mostly European audience, this film set a cultural reference point in many people's subconscious of what America should look and feel like. It is a landmark in new German Cinema and is probably the best of Wim Wenders' creations. The film has a critical and cult following and it won the 1984 Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. Paris, Texas
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|