Why Wim Wenders’ classic Paris, Texas, newly restored in 4K, still mesmerises 40 years on
Director Wim Wenders recalls the shoot for his 1984 American masterpiece, which is being re-released in cinemas in 4K in October 2024
There aren’t many films that truly merit being celebrated 40 years on, but Paris, Texas is surely one.
Overhauled with a new 4K restoration for a cinematic re-release this month, Wim Wenders’ masterpiece, led by a craggy-faced Harry Dean Stanton, and driven by that unforgettable Ry Cooder slide-guitar score, still feels utterly timeless.
For the German filmmaker it remains a high point, along with the later Berlin-set Wings of Desire, that would come to define his career. Moreover, after earlier works like Hammett and The American Friend, it was the film that finally came to define his thoughts about the United States.
“I made several films to try and understand what it [America] was,” Wenders told this writer, “[but only Paris, Texas] did. The others sort of circled around it …
“Hammett and The American Friend, even Alice In The Cities, went to America. Kings of the Road was shot in Germany but it dealt with America. The only film that came to a certain conclusion was Paris, Texas. That at least allowed me to come back home.
“At the time, I wouldn’t have dared to move back to Germany if I hadn’t somehow accomplished my American mission.”
