It’s offensive for me to have taken this long to watch Paris, Texas. I’ve heard many great things and had always planned on checking it out, but for one reason or another never managed to sit down with it. Luckily the Criterion Collection just released their awesome-as-usual blu ray edition and I have been officially blown away. It’s offensive for me to have taken this long to watch Paris, Texas. To put it bluntly, I loved this movie and want to marry it.

The film is in many ways built like a mystery. We start with Travis’ wandering through the desert, aimlessly and silently, until his brother Walt is informed of his whereabouts. Once the two reunite, we slowly learn that Travis had been missing for four years, having left behind a 7 year old son, Hunter — played brilliantly by Hunter Henderson — and an estranged wife. Wenders manages to use this mysterious past as a great point of mystery, teasing us with small glimpses of Jane — Travis’ wife — through photos and super 8 home movies. Somehow her striking image manages to stick with you until the end of the film. When Travis learns that while he was missing, his brother and sister-in-law have stepped in as the parents of his son, the complications begin. He attempts to win back Hunter’s affections as he figures out what a Father looks like and acts like, slowly rebuilding the personality he’d seemed to have lost during his time away. Once he learns of the whereabouts of his wife, he and his son — unbeknownst to his brother — set out on a road trip with the intent track her down and find out what happened to her. The resulting confrontation is one of the most powerful scenes I’ve seen in a long time.

Wim Wenders manages to take a simple premise and turn it into a heartbreaking tale of broken families and lost memories. The interesting thing is this film could be a breeding ground for melodrama but it never really goes there. All of the dialogue and performances are understated, quiet and real. I suppose the melodrama exists in the visuals; cinematographer Robby Muller’s bright neon greens and pinks of the city in contrast with the dull browns and grey’s in which we first meet Travis, played by the amazing Harry Dean Stanton. Not since his role as Gideon, the loving angel in Once Magic Christmas, has he given such a powerful performance. (I’m joking. Not that he was bad in OMC, but…) Dean Stockwell also turns in a great performance as Travis’ brother, who is trying to figure out what happened in those missing four years and what it means in regards to the family he and his wife have created with Hunter. Not since Quantum Leap has Dean Stockwell given such a powerful…nevermind.

At this point it’s almost redundant to comment on the video quality of Criterion’s blu ray releases. They are all spectacular. Paris, Texas definitely benefits from the subtle film grain and lush colour representation, providing a brilliant HD reproduction of the original film source. Some of the bonus features include audio commentary featuring Wenders; a series of video interviews with the cast, crew and director; excerpts from a 1990 documentary on Wenders; deleted scenes and super 8 home movies, and a segment from the French television program ‘Cinema cinemas’, featuring Wenders. All in all a great package for a film that totally blew me away.

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