This is my favorite movie ever and this is a large part of why. Sam Shepard may have been better known as an actor, but this screenplay, his short stories, and the stage plays he wrote are really what should have made him a national treasure, but sadly too many people are unaware of his talents. RIP Sam Shepard and Harry Dean Stanton who together gave us one of the best scenes in cinematic history.
Excelente descripción de ese par de personajes de la cultura estadounidense, Sam Shepard como escritor de este guión es genial como mezcla todas las emociones de los personajes de Harry Dean Stanton ( jealousy was kind of the LOVE for her) and Natasha Kinsky, este monologo- diálogo es inolvidable.
I listen to this and I think the beauty of it is partially to do with the sparsity. There's nothing there that doesn't need to be. Just the voices in the void...and your imagination doing the rest.
Could this be the most heart wrenching soliloquy in the history of American Cinema. Lulled by the unaffected, tired, chained by melancholy and beaten by dreams of what could have been, the male voice narrates this story of love found, love lost, love saved and love slipped. Has the beautiful and capricious and illogical nature of human love ever found truer setting than in the arms of the unobtrusive guitar. So powerful this is that we don't need visuals to understand the woeful story. Jealousy we thought was the killer of relationships, depression or the unshaped and one-sided dreams flowers apart their petals.
it is amazing. It's not a soliloquy technically, because it s being directly delivered to another character. But it is master writing by Sam Shepard, master acting by Harry Dean (RIP) and Nastassia, master staging by director Wim Wenders, and master scoring by Ry Cooder The day after I first saw Paris, Texas, I ordered the soundtrack its the doubtful hope that because of the underscore this monologue would be there. I looked on the the back when the CD arrived, and there was a track called "I knew these people"...
Yeah, goosebumps every time. I finally bought Cooder's soundtrack on vinyl today, and it's quite fitting this song features the only voices on the entire record. Says it all, really.
I like most us have went through some hard times...years ago.Used to fall asleep with this playing on the record player...It inspired me to get lost in order to get found.Been a long time....RIP HDS....& thanks.
Man : I knew these people, these two people. They were in love with each other. The girl was very young, about 17 or 18 I guess and the guy was quite a bit older. He was kind of raggedy and wild. And she was very beautiful , you know. And together they turned everything into a kind of an adventure. And she liked that. Just an ordinary trip down the grocery store was full of adventure . They were always laughing at stupid things. He liked to make her laugh and they didn’t much care for anything else because all they wanted to do was be with each other. They were always together and he, he loved her more than he ever felt possible. He couldn’t stand being away from her (ah) during the day when he went to work. So he’d quit just to be home with her. Then he got another job when the money ran out. And then he quit again. But pretty soon she started to worry. Woman : ‘Bout what? Man : Money I guess. Not having enough. Not knowing when the next cheque was coming in. Woman : Yep. I know that feeling. Man : So he started to get kind of torn inside. Woman: How do you mean? Man: Well he knew he had to work to support her, but he couldn’t stand being away from her either. Woman : I see. Man : And the more he was away from her , the crazier he got. Except now he got really crazy. He started imagining all kinds of things. Woman: Like what? Man: He started thinking that she was seeing other men on the sly. He’d come home from work and accuse her of spending the day with somebody else. He’d yell at her and break things in the trailer. Woman : The trailer… Man: Yes, they’d lived in a trailer home. Anyway, he started to drink real bad and he’d stay out late to test her to see if she’d get jealous. He wanted her to get jealous. But she didn’t. She just worried about him. But that got him even madder. He thought if she’d never be jealous of him that she didn’t really care about him. Jealousy was a sign of her love for him. And then one night, one night she told him that she was pregnant. She was about three or four months pregnant. And he didn’t even know. And then suddenly everything changed. He stopped drinking, got a steady job. He was convinced that she loved him now because she was carrying his child and he was going to dedicate himself to making a home for her. But a funny thing started to happen. He didn’t even notice it at first. She started to change. But the day the baby was born she began to get irritated with everything around her. She got mad at everything. Even the baby seemed to be an injustice to her. He kept trying to make everything all right for her. Buy her things, take her out to dinner once a week. But nothing seemed to satisfy her. About two years he struggled to pull them back together like they were when they first met. But finally he knew that it was never gonna work out. So he hit the bottle again. But this time it got mean. This time when he came out late at night, she wasn’t worried about him or jealous. She was just enraged. She accused him of holding her captive by making her have a baby. She told him that she dreamed about escaping. That was all she dreamed about: escape. She saw herself at night running naked down a highway; running across fields; running down river beds; always running and always just as she was about to get away, he’d be there. He would stop her somehow. He would just appear and stop her. And when she told him these dreams, he believed them. He knew she had to be stopped or she’d leave him forever. So he tied a cow bell to her ankle so he could hear at night if she tried to get out of bed. But she learnt how to muffle the bell by stuffing her sock into it and inching her way out of the bed and into the night. He caught her one night when the sock fell out and he heard her trying to run off the highway. Caught her and dragged her back to the trailer and tied her to the stove with his belt. He just left her there, went back to bed and lay there listening to her scream. Then hae listened to his son scream and he was surprised at himself because he didn’t feel anything anymore. All he wanted to do was sleep. For the first time he wished he were far away, lost in a deep, vast country where nobody knew him. Somewhere without language or streets. And he dreamed about this place without knowing its name. And when he woke up he was on fire. There were blue flames burning the sheets of his bed. He ran through the flames toward the only two people he loved. But they were gone. His arms were burning and he threw himself outside and rolled on the wet ground. Then he ran. He never looked back at the fire. He just ran. He ran until the sun came up and he couldn’t run any further. And when the sun went down, he ran again. For five days he ran like this until every sign of man had disappeared.
is cinema at it's best, my next best fav film is Betty Blue. It a French film with english subtitles or a dubbed version with american voices ---- dont go there. subtitl;es is best
Lol...THAT was one of the greatest scenes I witnessed...........tears were running down my cheeks even as a 24 year old.....brilliant acting from both of them! When Kinski put the light on and sat down & Stanton's face superimposed over hers.....cinematography magic!!
This is my favorite movie ever and this is a large part of why. Sam Shepard may have been better known as an actor, but this screenplay, his short stories, and the stage plays he wrote are really what should have made him a national treasure, but sadly too many people are unaware of his talents. RIP Sam Shepard and Harry Dean Stanton who together gave us one of the best scenes in cinematic history.
Excelente descripción de ese par de personajes de la cultura estadounidense, Sam Shepard como escritor de este guión es genial como mezcla todas las emociones de los personajes de Harry Dean Stanton ( jealousy was kind of the LOVE for her) and Natasha Kinsky, este monologo- diálogo es inolvidable.
I listen to this and I think the beauty of it is partially to do with the sparsity.
There's nothing there that doesn't need to be. Just the voices in the void...and your imagination doing the rest.
Could this be the most heart wrenching soliloquy in the history of American Cinema. Lulled by the unaffected, tired, chained by melancholy and beaten by dreams of what could have been, the male voice narrates this story of love found, love lost, love saved and love slipped.
Has the beautiful and capricious and illogical nature of human love ever found truer setting than in the arms of the unobtrusive guitar.
So powerful this is that we don't need visuals to understand the woeful story. Jealousy we thought was the killer of relationships, depression or the unshaped and one-sided dreams flowers apart their petals.
+Gerard Beaubrun wow.... you really hit the bull´s eye!
elvengadordebronce isn't it amazing?
it is amazing. It's not a soliloquy technically, because it s being directly delivered to another character. But it is master writing by Sam Shepard, master acting by Harry Dean (RIP) and Nastassia, master staging by director Wim Wenders, and master scoring by Ry Cooder The day after I first saw Paris, Texas, I ordered the soundtrack its the doubtful hope that because of the underscore this monologue would be there. I looked on the the back when the CD arrived, and there was a track called "I knew these people"...
Eloquent tribute.
Yeah, goosebumps every time. I finally bought Cooder's soundtrack on vinyl today, and it's quite fitting this song features the only voices on the entire record. Says it all, really.
How can you not cry listening to this
I had a nervous breakdown, I never thought that I would ever identify with Travis running into the desert. The accuracy is chilling.
Amazing text, interpretation and sparse musical accompaniment. This is packed with emotion and life experience.
The stripped down approach to the music, is perfect. It’s an understated masterpiece.
I like most us have went through some hard times...years ago.Used to fall asleep with this playing on the record player...It inspired me to get lost in order to get found.Been a long time....RIP HDS....& thanks.
The finest monologue in cinematic history...
Man : I knew these people, these two people. They were in love with each other. The girl was very young, about 17 or 18 I guess and the guy was quite a bit older. He was kind of raggedy and wild. And she was very beautiful , you know. And together they turned everything into a kind of an adventure. And she liked that. Just an ordinary trip down the grocery store was full of adventure . They were always laughing at stupid things. He liked to make her laugh and they didn’t much care for anything else because all they wanted to do was be with each other. They were always together and he, he loved her more than he ever felt possible. He couldn’t stand being away from her (ah) during the day when he went to work. So he’d quit just to be home with her. Then he got another job when the money ran out. And then he quit again. But pretty soon she started to worry.
Woman : ‘Bout what?
Man : Money I guess. Not having enough. Not knowing when the next cheque was coming in.
Woman : Yep. I know that feeling.
Man : So he started to get kind of torn inside.
Woman: How do you mean?
Man: Well he knew he had to work to support her, but he couldn’t stand being away from her either.
Woman : I see.
Man : And the more he was away from her , the crazier he got. Except now he got really crazy. He started imagining all kinds of things.
Woman: Like what?
Man: He started thinking that she was seeing other men on the sly. He’d come home from work and accuse her of spending the day with somebody else. He’d yell at her and break things in the trailer.
Woman : The trailer…
Man: Yes, they’d lived in a trailer home. Anyway, he started to drink real bad and he’d stay out late to test her to see if she’d get jealous. He wanted her to get jealous. But she didn’t. She just worried about him. But that got him even madder. He thought if she’d never be jealous of him that she didn’t really care about him. Jealousy was a sign of her love for him. And then one night, one night she told him that she was pregnant. She was about three or four months pregnant. And he didn’t even know. And then suddenly everything changed. He stopped drinking, got a steady job. He was convinced that she loved him now because she was carrying his child and he was going to dedicate himself to making a home for her. But a funny thing started to happen. He didn’t even notice it at first. She started to change. But the day the baby was born she began to get irritated with everything around her. She got mad at everything. Even the baby seemed to be an injustice to her. He kept trying to make everything all right for her. Buy her things, take her out to dinner once a week. But nothing seemed to satisfy her. About two years he struggled to pull them back together like they were when they first met. But finally he knew that it was never gonna work out. So he hit the bottle again. But this time it got mean. This time when he came out late at night, she wasn’t worried about him or jealous. She was just enraged. She accused him of holding her captive by making her have a baby. She told him that she dreamed about escaping. That was all she dreamed about: escape. She saw herself at night running naked down a highway; running across fields; running down river beds; always running and always just as she was about to get away, he’d be there. He would stop her somehow. He would just appear and stop her. And when she told him these dreams, he believed them. He knew she had to be stopped or she’d leave him forever. So he tied a cow bell to her ankle so he could hear at night if she tried to get out of bed. But she learnt how to muffle the bell by stuffing her sock into it and inching her way out of the bed and into the night. He caught her one night when the sock fell out and he heard her trying to run off the highway. Caught her and dragged her back to the trailer and tied her to the stove with his belt. He just left her there, went back to bed and lay there listening to her scream. Then hae listened to his son scream and he was surprised at himself because he didn’t feel anything anymore. All he wanted to do was sleep. For the first time he wished he were far away, lost in a deep, vast country where nobody knew him. Somewhere without language or streets. And he dreamed about this place without knowing its name. And when he woke up he was on fire. There were blue flames burning the sheets of his bed. He ran through the flames toward the only two people he loved. But they were gone. His arms were burning and he threw himself outside and rolled on the wet ground. Then he ran. He never looked back at the fire. He just ran. He ran until the sun came up and he couldn’t run any further. And when the sun went down, he ran again. For five days he ran like this until every sign of man had disappeared.
George Kakaras Thank you for posting this.
George Kakaras Thankyou...
Thanks buddy for writing all this, you really helped me understand the whole dialogue .. thanks again!
you're the true hero.
Thank you soo much.
RIP Harry. I cried at my Mums funeral and I'm crying today for Harry Dean Stanton.
このシーンでいつも泣いちゃう…🥲
ADORO;AMO estooo LA PELI Y LA MÚSICA!!! GARCIAS MAMAAAAAAAAA iloviusoumachhhhh💟💟💟💟
Oh... I always cry.
Me too.
Melancólico y hermoso.
" ... and then, one night... " what a world of sadness from then on...
one of the best voices in the Business
A tragic story of a misunderstanding between 2 people, realistic could happen in real life, impressing film.
Such an beautiful scene
Thanks Isabella, for your comment, as the old saying goes, love hurts.
Thanks.
is cinema at it's best, my next best fav film is Betty Blue. It a French film with english subtitles or a dubbed version with american voices ---- dont go there. subtitl;es is best
RIP, HDS.
RIP Harry
3:05 I think Jane realizes Travis is on the other room
Lol...THAT was one of the greatest scenes I witnessed...........tears were running down my cheeks even as a 24 year old.....brilliant acting from both of them! When Kinski put the light on and sat down & Stanton's face superimposed over hers.....cinematography magic!!
Does anyone know if the song alone is available to listen anywhere ?
cancion mixteca by ry cooder
Paris Texas. Route 66.
💜
Flockig!
♣️🎼♦️♦️♦️ PARFAITEMENT QUELLE ALLURE
💜