Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984) - Obsessive Love

[chillburke]

Paris, Texas is a mystery and a tragedy. The film begins with a man wandering through the Texas desert all alone. He doesn't even utter a word when his brother comes to pick him up after not having heard from him in four years. He's practically catatonic, and seems to have amnesia. Slowly over the course of the film (can I stress SLOWLY!), we find out more about his story: that he has a son and an ex-wife, and that something must have gone really badly, though we don't know what until the last twenty minutes of this 147 minute film.

It turns out, the thing that went so wrong was that he loved her too much. He couldn't even go to work because he couldn't stand to be away from her for any amount of time. His obsessive love turned to paranoia, accusations, violence and abuse. He tells the story poignantly, of how he loved her so much he wanted to keep her caged, even tying a cowbell to her ankle like an animal. Of course she went from being happy to feeling trapped; first by him, and then by the baby they had. Unfortunately, his need to control and keep her made her want to escape not only him, but also the child. (Though she also mentions not wanting to use the child to feel happy and whole, something that I have seen many people do). I think that during his time wandering alone in the desert, he never stopped loving her, but after dealing with the grief of losing her, he finally wants what is best for her. I think he is hoping that returning to life with both himself and their child will be what is best, but after seeing her, he realizes that he can never be good for her. So he loves her enough at that point to just let her go, giving the child and mother to each other again, but without himself in the mix to destroy it.

This film is such a tragedy. And a masterpiece of direction, cinematography, soundtrack, acting, and writing. Every Wim Wenders film is good, but only this one and Wings of Desire are PERFECT.

More on this film to come...

[lbourgeois]

I think one good place (of many) to start analyzing this film is what you've touched upon as Travis' love for his wife. I agree that Travis did love his wife too much and I think his need to cage his wife in, because he was afraid she would run away, is one of the films central themes. The idea of holding onto the past in a setting that is becoming modernized is animated many times throughout the film. The example of the cowbell around the ankle is a prime example of this. The cowbell is old, outmoded, and ultimately unable to contain Travis' wife, or work in a world that has outgrown its primitive nature. This conflict of old vs new in a changing society is, I think, a big part of the film and touching on the innumerable examples is a task better left for a larger effort. But I also thought the wife's (sorry forgot her name) French accent, aside from being an expression of that image/reality tension of the film, or maybe part of it, is a key point because it is a contrast to Travis who is often seen speaking Spanish, an older western/cowboy/rancher type of language versus French which seems new, exotic, on the vanguard of hip. And these differences in language also indicate, to me, the conflict between Travis and Walt's wife, each wanting posession of the child. Of course Travis is unable to keep the boy because he is futilely a part of that old society, his mother was "not a fancy women", so his wife must go to the "meridian" hotel and cross back into society. Also, I think that language being a key difference in characters is parallel to the film's theme of difficulty in communication between men and women in modernized technological society. In the fancy woman scene, Travis is juxtaposed with a radio, while his wife is shown with a telephone and TV. Ahh, sorry for rambling, this movie is too good and there are too many things to talk about. I agree - it is a masterpiece.