This mild winter has allowed us to continue walking. We have always walked but we ratcheted up the distance last year in preparation for our walk across Spain and our weather has permitted that to continue. Or maybe it’s not the weather at all. Maybe it is simply that the more you walk, the more you enjoy it so you walk more.
We walked in and out of downtown on both sides of the river and I was thinking about Paris Texas, the movie we had watched the night before. There wasn’t nearly as much walking in it as I remembered. We saw it when it came out and at least once since but I remember marathon walking and there is very little of that in the movie. It must have made an impression.
Like Robert Frank’s “The Americans,” Wim Wenders’ outsider take on America did not initially meet with success. We loved it and the soundtrack. We bought the vinyl and I played it last night during dinner. When Personal Effects was recording the soundtrack for the Planetarium show we deliberately aped Ry Cooder with an instrumental called “Cirrus.”
This time around Dean Stockwell was every bit as good as Harry Dean Stanton. Hard to believe he had quit acting before this film and was apparently working as a real estate agent. The real star of the movie is Sam Sheppard’s script. Hunter, played by Karen Black’s son, was astounding.
The extras had thoughtful interviews with Wenders in German, French and English. I loved “In His Own Words,” Wenders’ movie about/with the Pope and I liked the extras from that, shown on 60 Minutes. My profile has been built and I am ready for more Wim Wenders recommendations.
I would love to rewatch Until the End of the World, but its not available anywhere. I guess its the great expansive soundtrack that hampered its lifespan. Licensing issues etc.
But recalling how the film showed the world had devolved into people addicted to watching their dreams on little handheld screens seems like a real smart phone omen now.
Try Wenders’ Road Trilogy, particularly Alice in the Cities. Unavailable in the US forever, Criterion brought them out a few years ago.