Thursday, November 14, 7 pm
Director: Wim Wenders
Language: English
Runtime: 145
One of the most visually ravishing movies of the 1980s gets the big-screen treatment with this 40th-anniversary 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’ masterpiece Paris, Texas.
The film follows the mysterious, nearly mute drifter Travis (a magnificent Harry Dean Stanton, whose face is a landscape all its own) as he tries to reconnect with his young son and his missing wife (Nastassja Kinski). From this simple setup, director Wenders and screenwriter Sam Shepard produce a powerful statement on codes of masculinity and the myth of the American family, as well as an exquisite visual exploration of a vast, crumbling world of canyons and neon.
The movie abounds with A-list talent doing career-best work:
- German director Wim Wenders has a sizeable handful of masterpieces to his credit, and this is definitely one of them;
- Playwright Sam Shepard wrote the film on a hot streak, following his hugely successful stage plays True West and Fool For Love;
- The always-excellent Harry Dean Stanton was never better than in this rare starring role, which was his favorite among his own films;
- Ry Cooder’s deeply atmospheric, highly influential slide-guitar soundtrack jump-started his career as a film composer, and remains his best;
- The great cinematographer Robby Muller (Down By Law, Breaking the Waves) took a familiar landscape and created something entirely new and compelling;
- Nastassja Kinski’s final monologue may be her very best moment on film.
Here’s your chance to see a visually incomparable film presented in a newly restored version on a big screen. Why wouldn’t you come see it?