Paris, Texas

Paris, Texas
I chose the film Paris, Texas for my film review because the content has a lot of the components that I’ve experienced with my daughter’s relationship with her father, not the specific drama, but a lot of the psychological content.
The film Paris, Texas, written by Sam Shepard, was made in 1984 and starred Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clemént, Nastassja Kinski, and Hunter Carson. It begins in a vast desert canyon, zooming in on a lone man struggling through the rough terrain, seemingly in search of water. When he stumbles into a small village of sorts, he collapses. In the next scene, we see the man lying on a doctor’s table being examined, and cajoled by the doctor for being mute. After searching his wallet and finding a business card, he calls who we later learn is the mute man’s brother, Walt. He flies in from Los Angeles, to retrieve his brother, Travis. By the time Walt arrives in Texas, Travis has disappeared back into the desert. Walt tracks him down in the rental car, but when he stops, Travis doesn’t seem to recognize his brother. After talking him into the car, where he gets into the back seat, Walt starts asking questions, which Travis doesn’t answer. In trying to get answers, we learn from Walt that it has been 4 years since he last saw Travis.
When they stop at a motel, Walt leaves Travis to shower while he goes to shop for new clothes for Travis. Travis turns on the shower, sees himself in the mirror, and takes off again before Walt gets back. He finds him wandering again, and asks him where it is he is trying to go, with no verbal response from Travis, but instead a yearning look into the distance. They continue on to a roadside diner, where Walt again begins trying to get Travis to talk. He asks him if he remembers his 3 year old son Hunter, who Walt and his wife Ann have been raising since Travis’ disappearance.