Paris, Texas

Sunday, May 11, 2008



My K2K this year has lead me to another beloved director I was heretofore previously completely unfamiliar with: Wim Wenders.

For some reason I was expecting this to be a slow, sad, morose affair, maybe a little hard to get through. Also, I thought it was going to be in black and white. I have no idea why I thought any of these things, but I was pretty much wrong on all counts. Paris, Texas does tell a sad story, but it tells it with warmth and affection for its characters.

I've always liked Harry Dean Stanton, but I've never seen him front and center in a movie like this, and he's awesome. I can imagine an alternate universe where he was a leading man and not a character actor. Also, props to the great Dean Stockwell for his work in this. He's so good I wish his role had been bigger, but he vanishes for the 2nd half.



I am definitely not opposed to seeing more of Wim Wenders in the future. This movie didn't blow me away, but I responded to a lot of it (even if it did drag a bit towards the end), and the cinematography was beautiful.