BUY TICKETS HERE
Join us at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, for New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders’ 1984 drama “Paris, Texas.” Wenders brings his keen eye for landscape to the American Southwest in this story of a mysterious, nearly mute drifter Travis (a magnificent Harry Dean Stanton) as he tries to reconnect with his young son, living with his brother (Dean Stockwell) in Los Angeles, and his missing wife (Nastassja Kinski).
From this simple setup, Wenders and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard, who co-wrote the screenplay, produce a powerful statement on codes of masculinity and the myth of the American family, as well as an exquisite visual exploration of a vast, crumbling world of canyons and neon.
PARIS, TEXAS | 1984 | DIRECTOR: Wim Wenders | WITH: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell | RATED R for sexual content, brief profanity | RUNNING TIME: 2H 25M | 4K RESTORATION
“The man comes walking out of the desert like a Biblical figure, a penitent who has renounced the world. He wears jeans and a baseball cap, the universal costume of America, but the scraggly beard, the deep eye sockets and the tireless lope of his walk tell a story of wandering in the wilderness. What is he looking for? Does he remember?
“Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas” (1984) is the story of loss upon loss. This man, whose name is Travis, was once married and had a little boy. Then that all went wrong, and he lost his wife and child, and for years he wandered. Now he will find his family and lose it again, this time not through madness but through sacrifice. He will give them up out of his love for them.
“Wenders uses the materials of realism but this is a fable, as much as his great “Wings of Desire.” It’s about archetypal longings, set in American myth. The name Travis reminds us of Travis McGee, the private investigator who rescued lost souls and sometimes fell in love with them but always ended up alone on his boat.
“The Texas setting evokes thoughts of the Western, but this movie is not for the desert and against the city; it is about a journey which leads from one to the other and ends in a form of happiness.” — Roger Ebert
Tickets are $6 (including service charge) and are available at the link above. Students use code STUDENT at checkout for free admission (must show Cane card at the door).
