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हिन्दी 
“It is an understatement to say that I am overwhelmed,” began Wim Wenders as he took to stage to introduce his Palme d’Or winning film Paris, Texas in Kolkata. The acclaimed German filmmaker was welcomed by an army of fans who stood in line for over two hours outside Nandan theatre, waiting patiently to get a seat in Nandan for the evening screening of the film. The Kolkata leg of the India tour began on February 16, and will continue till February 19. (Also read: Legendary filmmaker Wim Wenders to visit India for a retrospective)
Wim Wenders in Kolkata
The filmmaker smiled and waved at young fans as he was welcomed with the rhythmic beats of dhak, accompanied by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, the founder-director of Film Heritage Foundation. It is in association with the Wim Wenders Stiftung and Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai, that FHF is conducting the ‘Wim Wenders – King Of The Road – The India Tour’, with the director touring 5 cities in India with his films- Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Pune and Delhi.
In the introduction, the director shared that making Paris, Texas was ‘a joyful experience’ despite the film being stuck at the beginning because the script had to go through 44 drafts. Once he found his leading man in Harry Dean Stanton, the film took shape. What’s more? The director expressed that he was not happy when he heard he would not be there for a QnA session after the film, so he decided to change it and stay over to take a few questions! The audience cheered instantly at the welcome surprise.
The screening of Paris, Texas
The restored version of the film, often touted as the best in the filmmaker’s long career, played to a packed audience. Even four decades after release, Patis, Texas retains the haunting alienation of a broken man yearning for reconnection. Stanton’s Travis first emerges on screen in the west Texas desert, but we do not really know what haunts him. As he returns to Los Angeles, his brother Walt grows exhausted by his muteness. Why did he leave? Did he not care for his son Hunter and the rest of the family? There are no easy answers and he can’t explain himself. Travis stays silent, and then finally speaks. Yet, what he says and how he perceives his life that he has left behind, and the one he is going to enter, will take the shape of a haunting odyssey in the hands of the director. Featuring some of the most perceptive shots of urban landscape in the backdrop, this is a film that paints the emotional fabric of a generation steeped in socio-economic dislocation.
It is also a film that has aged brilliantly, where Travis’ stoic silence gives way to an unmitigated search for meaning and identity in this fragmented world. Paris, Texas has an enduring impact, offering vivid insights on the acutely human search for fulfillment, self-realization and forgiveness. In the session which followed after the screening, the director said that he was interested in making a film that could directly be in conversation with the viewer, and if there were easy answers to be found and permitted within the film itself then that would not be interesting to him.
The director gave thoughtful answers to the questions asked, recalling at one instance how an American producer even suggested that Travis take a U-turn at the end of the film. Wim did not agree, as that would devalue the fundamental truth of his film. Travis cannot interfere with this family, and he comes to that realization with no disregard to the ones he loves. So, he must find his own destination, wherever that leads.
Even as the Kolkata audience wondered about Travis’ search for grief and identity, there was no denying the warmth and blissful radiance of its filmmaker. “If a film is not listening to its own truth, then it is not for me,” he said. Like an enigma himself, the filmmaker was extraordinarily receptive to his audience, and present in listening to the thoughts of the viewers watching the film for the first time. The filmmaker smiled, waited and poured his heart into his responses. His film might end on an eternal quest, but the filmmaker would rather stay a few minutes longer to reassure that there is still hope left in that search as long as one is watching.
