Film: “Paris, Texas” (1983) directed by Wim Wenders

When Harry Dean Stanton looks at the camera with his sad puppy-dog eyes, you know his character is either going to gross you out or break your heart. In Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas,” (1983) he does a bit of both.

Currently showing at IFC after a 4k restoration, “Paris” is part road movie, part neo-Western, and totally engrossing. For the last four years, Travis (Stanton) has been wandering in the no-man’s-land of West Texas. One day, he passes out from dehydration. Fortunately, he is rescued by a local who finds a business card in Travis’s wallet. The card belongs to Travis’s brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) who lives in California. Walt has been searching for his brother for years. He quickly flies to Texas with. every intention of bringing him back to LA.

Unfortunately, once they reunite, Travis remains close-mouthed about where he’s been and what he’s been up to. What’s more, Travis insists they drive back to LA. At this point, the movie becomes a road trip—the brothers pass through dilapidated towns with garish neon signs and rusted automobiles. (Thanks to cinematographer Robby Mueller for making everything look crusty and old but still strangely beautiful.)

Once back in LA, they are joined by Walt’s wife Ann (Aurore Clement from “Lacombe, Lucien”) and Hunter (Hunter Carson), the young son Travis abandoned. Travis wants to reignite the father-son relationship but Hunter initially refuses, preferring Walt and Ann as his surrogate parents.

Eventually Travis decides he will return to Texas to look for his ex-GF Jane (Nastassja Kinski), the mother of Hunter. With this plan in mind, Hunter has a change of heart and decides to go with him. This sets up another road trip in search of Jane, which leads to one of the most startling and moving endings in recent memory.

This is a slow burn of a movie (co-written by Sam Shepherd) with a cast (Stockwell, Stanton, Kinski, Lounge Lizards’ musician John Lurie) that would become bold-faced names in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Western locales are stark; one critic compared them to paintings by Hopper and Ed Ruscha. The gorgeous twangy score is by Ry Cooder.

In 1984, “Paris, Texas” won three awards, including the Palme d'Or. To this day, however, critical reception remains mixed. While Kurosawa placed it in on his list of top 100 films, David Denby called the film a “fiasco.” Check IFC’s schedule and decide for yourself. Never been to the real Paris, Texas, but sounds like it could be an interesting place.

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