Paris, Texas (1984)

(film 147 minutes)

Directed by: Wim Wenders
Language: English

Rating: 6/10 | Yaser Tohidi
August 14, 2022

Travis has renounced the world and knows nothing but walking day and night in deserts. This is the verdict he has pronounced for himself after leaving his wife and child some 4 years ago. Accidentally his younger brother, Walt, who has now adopted Travis’s child, Hunter, finds him. This encounter reminds Travis gradually of his past. Walt explains that Jane, Travis’s wife, could no longer care for Hunter and that is why he was left to Walt and his wife. They start traveling back to Los Angeles where Walt leaves with his wife and Hunter. On the way Travis starts speaking with the first word being Paris, a place in Texas where he has bought a land. Their mother was from there and their father wanted to believe she was actually from Paris, France, the fantasy that has become true by Walt whose wife is from Paris with strong French accent although he is not remembering all these about their parents. 

But why Travis has left - or better say has lost - his wife and his boy and wandered for years. This is not answered before Travis wins Hunter’s trust and they embark in a trip to find Jane and where Travis and Jane explain themselves to one another. Put it simply Travis was jealous and in distress seeing his joyous marriage was destroyed by Jane’s change in behaviour after having child. But now he has a more important plan. Making sure Jane’s work is safe for Hunter he tells Jane that Hunter needs her and that he is now waiting to see her. He reunite them and himself leaves and loses them again. 

Paris, Texas is the story of Travis who cannot live in a world full of desire for buying/faking nobility and excessively more ambitions and therefore losses and limitations, where placards, accents, places and names are more important than being plain and enjoying the plain life. But despite these, he has once loved Jane and they have a child together who needs more than anything else his mother. So Travis who has once caused the separation of child and mother decides to reunite them, hoping that this will make Jane happy again and will make Hunter grow by his own biological mother. Although we cannot easily answer why Travis thinks this is a better decision for Hunter as he seemed happy with Walt and his wife we can contemplate; maybe Walt reminds Travis of their father and his fake advertisements about origins of their mother (at some point we can see Walt is pasting a large advertisement of some French product) and instead he prefers Jane who is although poor but pure (she does not go home with her customers for money.)

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