Paris, Texas

(Directed by Wim Wenders) (1984)

Virtually no one has seen this film, but those who have, love it to bits. We caught it in Adelaide at a special New Year’s Eve screening. It is not as good as Wings of Desire, but then, what is?

An alien film set in an alien landscape, ponderous and slow, it captures the heartbreaking loss of love between a couple, and reflects upon the nature of obsession. A child-like man (Harry Dean Stanton) stumbles out of the wilderness, is taken in and cared for by his brother (Dean Stockwell) who helps him reconnect – fleetingly – with his lost love (Natassja Kinski). Great performances and atmospherics can’t conceal the obliqueness and emptiness at its heart, which may be the point. Well worth watching on a rainy day.