The aptly titled Paris, Texas evokes something foreign in the American experience. The film was inspired by Sam Shepard’s Motel Chronicles—in particular, “the image of somebody leaving the freeway and walking straight into the desert,” according to director Wim Wenders. That somebody is Harry Dean Stanton’s Travis, who staggers into the film on returning from nowhere, where he has been for a number of years. “From this simple setup, Wenders and Shepard produce a powerful statement on codes of masculinity and the myth of the American family, as well as an exquisite visual exploration of a vast, crumbling world of canyons and neon” (Janus Films).