I watched Paris, Texas (1984) last week at North Park Theatre. Directed by Wim Wenders, it’s a classic of independent cinema, known for its haunting visuals, slow, contemplative storytelling, and Ry Cooder’s slide guitar soundtrack with a Western‑movie feel. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is often praised as one of the greatest road movies ever made.
Word of warning: if you’re not used to more “artistic” films, the pace is slow.
At first, you might find yourself bored watching a man who reemerges in the desert after being missing for four years. But it all builds to a truly haunting scene in a quiet peep-show booth, where Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) sits in a darkened room behind a one-way mirror, holding a phone, while his estranged wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski) sits on the other side, brightly lit, also holding a phone.
Jane doesn’t know it’s him—she sees only a faceless client in the shadows as Travis begins to speak, his voice trembling, telling the story of a man and a woman who once loved each other deeply, only to watch that love unravel. He speaks in the third person, detaching from the weight of his confession.
He tells her how the man loved the woman, but his love was poisoned by insecurity and fear of losing her. The man “knew he had to work to support her, but he couldn’t stand being away from her… the more he was away from her, the crazier he got.” Suspicion and jealousy crept in. Drinking, the only way he knew to cope with his feelings, and his destructive behavior eventually destroyed their family.
Jane realizes it’s Travis on the other side of the mirror. His face remains hidden, but his words break through. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness, and he doesn’t try to reclaim her. He just wants to tell the truth, give back their son, and release them both from the shadow of past violence and the weight of shame.
It’s a long, quiet, and painfully moving monologue.
Out of fear of losing Jane, he held her too tightly. Out of jealousy, he watched her every move. Out of insecurity, he tried to control her. After their baby was born, Jane started to change. The more he clung, the further she slipped away. All she dreamed about was to escape. In the end, his worst fear came true: he lost her.
But there’s also a glimmer of hope. By finally facing the damage he caused and speaking the truth, Travis breaks free from the pattern that ruined him. He gives his son back to Jane, knowing it’s the only redemptive act within his power.
Travis’s story resonates because it exposes a truth some of us carry quietly: the relationships we strain with suspicion, the happiness we resist because we’re afraid it won’t last.
Paris, Texas lingers because it shows us a man’s propensity to destroy what he loves most.