Paris, Texas

Wim Wenders’s emotionally overwhelming, Palme d’Or–winning odyssey is a film of oppositions: wispy, home-recorded memories and rock-solid Southwestern landscapes; long stretches of silence and soul-baring monologues; American and European sensibilities. It instantly became a career highlight for almost everyone involved: screenwriter Sam Shepard; composer Ry Cooder; cinematographer Robby Müller; Harry Dean Stanton, whose performance as a lonely amnesiac seeking out his wife and son became his most iconic screen role; and Nastassja Kinski, whose absence, as Stanton’s estranged wife, dictates the movie’s rhythm. When she finally appears, it’s with what might be her finest performance to date, a condensed showcase of all her skill and restraint.