Continuing my journey with Wim Wenders. Fell in love with "Paris, Texas" just five minutes into it.
A strikingly poetic movie, interwoven by long shots of geographical nowheres and close-ups of facial blankness and spiritual emptiness. Just with a quick glimpse of how the story begins, you get the mood: a long shot of a bleak rocky desert for ten seconds; followed by a close-up of a hawk landing on a boulder; then back to the desert where a man in a tattered suit and ridiculously a red baseball cap was staggering; finally a close-up of the face of this man in his bushy beard and with his sun-burnt cheeks. Now, Wenders is ready to tell this story of alienation and loneliness.
Beautiful images, lonely souls...But, don't get me wrong -- it is in no way the kind of art-house movie that only artists understand. It is easily accessible by anyone. In fact you can find a lot of soap-drama elements in the story, only presented with a little more idyllic charm. My synopsis below will immediately tell you how good the story itself is.
Directionless, purposeless, speechless, penniless, Travis kept walking in the middle of a desert in Texas for four years for a forgotten reason. His brother came all the way from L.A. to bring him back to sense, speech, civilisation and life, although the four years of disappearance remained to be a mystery. Under the care of his brother and sister-in-law, and with the forgiving love of his seven-year-old boy, Travis struggled to put his life back together. One day, he decided to take his boy for a journey to find the boy's mother, which ended with a final understanding of what had happened between him, his wife and his son.
Excellent characterisation too. You naturally slip into the hearts of the outwardly rugged but inwardly tender Travis searching for himself, his supportive middle-class brother and sister-in-law struggling to let go, his intelligent and understanding boy learning to forgive and accept, his remorseful and very beautiful young wife trying to escape...You won't ever forget any one of them.
As in all movies, you smile, sulk, sob, sigh as the story "Paris, Texas" unfolds. But unlike most movies, you are awed by the breathtaking images, mused by the powerful symbolisms and touched by the convincing characters for two entire hours and beyond.
Another classic. Another recent favourite.
N.B. Just found out there's even a fancy fan site made for this movie...Cool~
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