Paris, Texas is a 1984 road film directed by Wim Wenders and starring Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Nastassja Kinski, Aurore Clément and Hunter Carson. The screenplay was written by L. M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, while the musical score was composed by Ry Cooder. The film is a co-production between companies in France and West Germany, and was shot in the United States by Robby Müller.

Plot

Travis Henderson walks alone through the West Texas desert in a fugue state, before stumbling into a bar and losing consciousness. A German doctor examines him and determines he is mute, but discovers he possesses a telephone number and calls it. The call is answered by Walt Henderson, Travis' brother from Los Angeles. Walt has not seen or had contact with Travis for four years, and agrees to travel to Terlingua, Texas, to retrieve him. His French wife, Anne, is concerned about the matter, as they have informally adopted Travis' son Hunter, with Hunter's biological mother Jane also missing. Walt reaches Terlingua, and finds Travis wandering from the clinic where he was found. The two brothers begin driving back to Los Angeles. With Walt becoming increasingly frustrated with Travis' muteness, Travis finally utters the name "Paris", asking to go there. Walt mistakenly assumes he means Paris, France. Farther down the road, Travis shows Walt a photograph of empty property in Paris, Texas, which he had purchased, believing he was conceived in that town.

Awards