Paris, Texas

Dir: Wim Wenders/W. Germany/France/1984/148 mins/ Dolby stereo

Lps: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell

Wim Wenders has long been recognised as the prime exponent of the 'road movie', and in his latest film he has created what must be the ultimate manifestation of that genre. Travis is a lone figure in an alien landscape. He appears to have no memory, and never speaks. After stumbling into an isolated town, his brother Walt collects him. On the road to Los Angeles, Travis's tongue loosens, and the threads of his memory begin to knit together.

Reunited with his son after many years, Travis sets off once again to find the boy's mother. This is a densely layered film, adapted from 'Motel Chronicles' by Sam Shepard. It investigates 'the demonic attachment of a man for his only woman' and, on the surface, that is what the film is about. It is also a touching study of a father- son relationship, the elements of which give the film some of its funniest and saddest moments. It presents a frightening view of America: a twilight world of motels, automatic banks, and all-night diners. But, at a deeper level, there is a mystical, almost comic undertone, highlighted by Robby Muller's wonderful shots of endless semi-lunar landscapes and in the boy's description of the Earth's creation. This is a sad and disturbing film, and the musical accompaniment to Shepard's 'High Lonesome' by Ry Cooder is the sound of the desert and sleepless nights. The image of Travis riding into the sunset accompanied by Cooder's mournful version of Willie Dixon's 'Dark is the Night' lingers long in the memory. 

JW

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mona Lisa

Image
  Dir: Neil Jordan/GB/1986/104 mins LPs: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane In many respects,  Mona Lisa  could be called a love story. It's about an older man, who falls hopelessly for a younger woman. But, considering that director Neil Jordan's last film was  Company of Wolves , it is no surprise that, whilst it is certainly about love, in the words of the song, it's every love but true love.  After a stretch in prison, middle-aged cockney lad George played by Bob Hoskins (who else?) emerges into eighties London, estranged from his wife and amazed by a  world where computer technology and high-class porn are now big business. Given the job of chauffeuring a sophisticated call girl, Simone (Cathy Tyson), he comes to respect her and agrees to scour the porn-clubs of London for a young prostitute whom she knew in her early days as a streetwalker.  The film opens light-heartedly enough, no more than a sharp satirical comedy, but th...
Read more

Jagged Edge

  Dir: Richard Marquand/USA/1985/109 mins/Dolby stereo Lps: Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Peter Coyote, Robert Loggia A tense courtroom thriller, with newspaper editor Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges) on trial for the murder of his rich wife, found knifed to death along with her maid in what appears to be a ritual killing. Glenn Close is Teddy Barnes, the defence attorney who reluctantly takes on the case, and, against her better judgement, becomes emotionally involved with her client. Jagged Edge moves rapidly along, playing with expectations and assumptions. The court scenes, whilst dominating a considerable part of the film, are as exciting and dramatic as the most physical of thrillers, interspersed with Teddy's developing relationship with Jack and her doubts and insecurities about her job. As the story reaches its powerful, tantalising conclusion, the suspense becomes unbearable, the real identity of the murderer remaining undisclosed until the last few seconds of the film. And thr...
Read more

A Room with a View

Image
Dir: James Ivory/GB/1985/117 mins/Dolby stereo Lps: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham-Carter, Julian Sands, Daniel Day Lewis If you hated A Passage to India forgive E.M. Forster immediately, for the second of his books to be made into a film is a great success. The scene is Florence, 1907. Miss Lucy Honeychurch, with her aunt and chaperone Charlotte, arrive at their hotel and unfortunately find their room unsatisfactory (no view). The problem is solved by the socially inept Mr Emerson and his son George who offer to swap. The story becomes more complicated as love, Victorian social values and interfering relatives make their appearance. The photography throughout is beautiful (definitely a film to make you want to go on holiday) and the acting is superb. The two main actors, Helena Bonham-Carter and Julian Sands, have difficult jobs in not making their characters too stereotypical. Luckily, Lucy and George are just whimsical enough to enjoy without without becoming pathetic. Especially watc...
Read more