Wim Wenders Recalls How 20th Century Fox Pushed To Change ‘Paris, Texas’ Ending – Lumière Film Festival Masterclass
deadline.comClose to 40 years after Wim Wenders won the Cannes Palme d’Or for Paris, Texas, its enigmatic ending continues to spark debate in cinephile circles.
Talking about his career in a Lumière Film Festival masterclass over the weekend, the German director stood by his decision to have Harry Dean Stanton’s reclusive character Travis drive off into night, leaving behind his reunited estranged wife and young son. “I was very, very convinced that the ending of Paris, Texas was right.
For me, it was an heroic act by Travis to leave the mother and son together,” said Wenders. “He knew he had done so much harm that they were never going to make it as a family, while the son and the mother had a good chance of making a life together if he left.” Wenders revealed he received pushback around the final scene, including from the U.S.
distributor 20th Century Fox, which acquired the film after its Cannes victory. “I got a call,” he recounted. “They wanted to propose just one thing: ‘We don’t want to change anything, but we’d like to add one shot at the end where we see Travis crying in his car.
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