"I wanted to see him so bad that I didn't even dare imagine him anymore."
Paris, Texas is a 1984 film by German filmmaker Wim Wenders. It stars Harry Dean Stanton (in a rare leading man role), Dean Stockwell and Nastassja Kinski.
Set in the vast Mojave desert, the film tells the story of Travis, a man found aimlessly wondering the empty roads while suffering from memory loss; he is found by his brother and sister-in-law, who proceed to attempt to reunite him with his seven-year-old son, Hunter, who he hasn't seen in four years. Upon regaining his memory and bonding with his son, Travis decides to go looking for the boy's mother, whose whereabouts are unknown.
Paris, Texas contains examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Travis helps Hunter reunite with his mother Jane, but he doesn't feel like he deserves to be in their lives because of what he had done in the past and leaves the two to be alone.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The walkie-talkies Hunter wants for the ride come in handy when they split out to look for Jane at the bank. Later Travis uses one to record a message to Hunter with the help of a tape recorder.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Travis imagined that Jane was seeing other men when he was working. He became abusive to her because of that.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The film takes its time revealing what exactly had happened between the seemingly happy couple of Travis and Jane. It turns out he was abusive towards her and kept her locked in their home, and when she escaped, she tried to burn him alive along with the rest of the house.
- Destructive Romance: Travis and Jane. They loved each other, but in the end Travis strapped Jane to the stove in their trailer and Jane escaped and set fire to the trailer while Travis was sleeping inside.
- Domestic Abuse: Travis's previous relationship with Jane eventually got abusive to the point where he tied her up to the the stove so she wouldn't escape.
- Easy Amnesia: Travis has some sort of memory loss at the start of the film, which goes away and is never mentioned again after he spends some time with his family and watches old homemade films.
- Elective Mute: In the beginning, Travis does not say a word, because of a psychological trauma. After he spends some time with his brother, he starts talking.
- The End Is Nigh: The lunatic on the bridge spouting off about the evils of the world.
- Happier Home Movie: Travis watches a home movie of the time he and Jane were still together.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Travis hits a pub after his first encounter with Jane.
- "London, England" Syndrome: Played straight with the movie title but subverted in-universe. A man is going around with a photograph telling people it is of Paris, even though it is clear that the photo shows a desert landscape. Incidentally, the real Paris, Texas looks nothing like what is shown in the photo. Paris, Texas the movie is shot in the deserts of West Texas, which is all rugged desert, while Paris, Texas
the city is in East Texas, which is mostly grass plains and forest. - May–December Romance: Travis' age is never stated, but he seems to be around 20 years Jane's senior, if not more, and she was only 17 when they first got together. Harry Dean Stanton was in fact 58 when filming - 34 years older than Kinski - but the character seems more likely in his late forties.
- Mysterious Past: It is never quite explained what Travis has been doing on his own for four years, or how he wound up walking around, nearly dehydrated, in the middle of the desert.
- Never Trust a Title: None of the film actually takes place in Paris, Texas, though the town is repeatedly mentioned in dialogue and acts as a recurring thematic motif.
- Old Flame: In the end, Travis finds his ex-lover Jane. They are both very moved, which shows that they still have feelings for each other. Subverted, because they also realize that it is not possible to get back together, and Travis decides to go away.
- The Oner: The last scene in the stripper booth where Jane talks about her experience is done in one take of 8 minutes.
- Parental Abandonment: Hunter's parents have disappeared for four years at the start of the movie. It turns out that Jane took Hunter with him so she could escape from Travis's abuse and left Hunter with Walt and Anne as she is unable to properly care for him herself.
- Parental Substitute: Walt and Anne adopt their nephew Hunter after his parents have disappeared. Hunter calls them dad and mom, though he eventually calls them by their first names once he's accepted Travis as his father.
- The Place: Paris, Texas. Though we never get to visit the place.
- Platonic Prostitution: Jane and the other Sexy Nurse stripper mention that they are used just listen to their customers.
- Precious Photo: Travis kept a photo of himself and Jane which he later bestows to his son.
- Regional Riff: The film is set in Texas and the entire soundtrack consists of country-style slide guitar, courtesy of one Ry Cooder.
- Road Trip Plot: A quintessential one. Travis travels from West Texas to Southern California with Walt and back again with Hunter.
- Shout-Out: Hunter is a big fan of Star Wars. He says that the home movie was made "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." There are also Star Wars pillows in his bedroom.
- Thicker Than Water: Walt misses out on a few days of work to drive Travis from Texas to California and even gives him the credit cards and cash he needs to find Jane all because he is his brother.
- Thirsty Desert: Travis collapses out of dehydration after crossing the dessert at the beginning.
- Title Drop: Several. First time it's Walt in the car when seeing the picture of the lot Travis bought.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Nastassja Kinski doesn't quite master her character's Texan accent, and periodically lapses back into her native German one, creating a kind of weird hybrid dialect that's impossible to pin down. It's more noticeable than it would be otherwise since she's the only one in the film with any notable accent whatsoever, except Anne, Walt's very French wife.
