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Dir. Wim Wenders
Rating: 7.5 | 0 User Reviews | Send to Friend
By Lance Duroni
Some Texans fancy the Lone Star state as a nation unto itself. Through the lens of German director Wim Wenders, 1984 Texas looks like another world -- a dusty, neon-soaked cradle of desolation custom-made to disappear into. Laid against this backdrop, Sam Shepard’s play takes on new dimensions in one of the best theater-to-screen adaptations in modern memory.
The film opens with a bedraggled Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) wandering out of the south Texas desert and grudgingly reuniting with his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), after four years of absence. Travis is intentionally mute, completely confused and seems only vaguely aware that his son, Hunter (Hunter Carson), has been in Walt’s custody for the past four years. Walt brings Travis back to California, where he begins to develop a relationship with the son he abandoned. Stanton delivers the performance of a lifetime as Travis, slowly thawing the character out of the deep freeze of psychosis in steady increments. His lovingly awkward relationship with his son smacks of authenticity, thanks in no small part to the young actor. This father-son reunion, however, doesn’t resolve the central mystery: What happened to Hunter’s mother and what drove her and Travis to abandon their son?
The answers to these questions might strike some as underwhelming -- less a smoking gun than a smoldering candle -- after the ominous build-up, but the film doesn't strain to concoct some kind of melodramatic surprise, either. It is a visually hypnotic film with a tenderness that sneaks up on you. Blood proves far thicker than water here -- a fact you can almost feel coursing through your veins during this film’s many powerful moments.
This Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition includes a heaping helping of extras. There are several deleted scenes, including a good bit of extra 8mm footage from the Hendersons' home movie, interviews with cast and crew and excerpts from a documentary about director Wim Wenders.
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