1.
Veterans, they like to tell their stories and anecdotes. And,
withWim, we neverspeaked about it, but I know, in his memory, in my memory, and
from probably Alison, we were trying not being sure of the film, actually.
Omitted.
2.
I want to start by asking you how old you were when you
readParisTexas, when you worked on the film.
3.
When I was Wim'sassistant?
4.
Yes.
5.
Thirtysix, I guess.
6.
Yeah, yeah. And it was on. How did you meetWim?
7.
I was working inPortugal. He was inPortugal.
8.
Shooting?
9.
[DerStandDerDinge1982]. And he called me, and he said, I heard
you were staying inLisbon, Would you like to have a drink with me? And I was.
Laughter ofDenis. Of course, I said, Yes, you know. But I thought it was a joke
really actually, because it was probably the director I reallywanted to meet,
not to work with him, but just to meet and make sure, likeFassbinder, he was
real, you know. He convinced me thebestthing I could do was to work with him.
And I don't know why I was afraid, because I wanted to do, I started looking
money for myfirstfilm, and I. Chocolat. And I told him I had to work on my
project, and he convinced me that thebestway to work on my own project was to
work with him. I didn't trust him. Laughter ofJones. But I felt that there was
something right, because I immediatelyenjoyed the way he asked me to work with
him, you know. So, he told me to forget all the rest, to pack my stuff, and
meet him inHouston as soon as possible, because he was going there.
10.
And this was nineteeneightythree. Two.
11.
Two. By the time, I finished moving, he started writing the
script withSamShephard, and I left. And I met him in theHoustonairport, and it
started there. Omitted.
12.
Didn't the seed of idea forParisTexas come fromMotelChronicles?
13.
Yes, yes. That's thefirstthing Wim made me read.
14.
Was there onestory in it that he was thinking of, or was it a
general?
15.
Especially the one with the kid sleeping in the car, because,
coming back and, and there is the dinosaur. I think that was really like that.
With that novel, Wim reallystarted. Omitted.
16.
What kind of shape was the script in when you arrived? Where
were they at?
17.
The script was multioptional, options, but there was no ending.
The meeting at the bank, thebankscene inHouston, all this did not exist. All
this part of the script, let's say, from the moment where the twobrothers
reachLosAngeles, and the scene inLosAngeles, all the part of exwife and
everything, all the past, flashback, everything disappear. And going with his son
in truck, dinosaur, the truckstop, all this did not exist when I came. It was a
verydifferent script. I think everything was made over the phone as we started
shooting. Actually, we did prepare. I did locationscout for all the scene[s]
withWim. When we were inTexas, going toBigBendTerritory, where the film starts,
and we were there in the evening, and Wim was thinking how to open the film. At
this gasstation, the guy was serving, it's the gasstation in the film actually,
told us that he had a friend who could rent a little tour with his own plane.
And, so nextmorning, we went there, and the guy took us in the plane, and he
said he was willing to show us a place that were veryspecial. No road to go
there, and Wim was curious about this place. There are these graveyard.
Suddenly, you have this phenomenon of redcliff, you know, like monument in the
middle of a desert, you know. I couldn't believe the beauty, you know. And Wim
said, That's where I want to open the film.
18.
Was HarryDeanStanton cast when you came aboard?
19.
Not yet. SamShephard insisted a lot toWim to meetHarryDean. And
DeanStockwell alsoknewHarryDean. Everyone converged the idea
ofHarryDeanStanton.
20.
Did it take a lot of convincing?
21.
No, I think he was. But HarryDean is not a guy who's screaming
with joy when he's happy, you know. Laughter ofJones. He looks anxious, ready
to bite, you know.
22.
AllisonAnders worked on the film, too.
23.
AllisonAnders was a student. Wim choose threestudent[s] inU to
bePAs, and to travel with us. And Allison was the one [who] would tameHarryDeanStanton.
Laughter ofJones. NO, Allison was great. We, we still are friends in a way, but
we live so far away, you know. I like her verymuch. She was, she was
notdriving, so she was writing poetry and songs. She was doing great, I mean.
24.
So, SamShephard wasn't there. Any time there was a change,
somebody had to callSantaFe[NM], and figure out when he was going to call back.
None of the certain point in the film did Carson start writing?
25.
Yeah.
26.
He's the father ofHunterCarson, who was.
27.
Yeah. When Hunter was cast, because Wim met the kidCarson, and
the one they seemed that Wim was in the dire strait, not because of
SamShephard, because we had not the budget. Was reevaluated. We were short on
money, and we had to stop shooting twoorthreetimes. Especially the one
verydramatic time when we were stopped byTeamsters inTexas inElPaso. They
kidnapped the cameratruck. And Wim won the cameratruck back by playing poker
with them. And then, Wim passed the exam to become a teamster, and he made it.
So, he was allowed to drive the truck, things like that, you know.
28.
Okay.
29.
It was reallyshocking, I think, forHarryDean or some people in
the crew felt exhausted by notknowing what was going on. But, for me, it was as
if Wim alwaystook advantage of that. He felt free. I could see.
30.
Of being able to invent as you.
31.
No,
he was notjoking with that. Robbie[Muller] was complaining,
but I could see it was like a sort of special
["]alcove["], Wim. But he was drinking in peace, this effect
of notknowing exactly what was going to be tomorrow. He seemed neverafraid, you
know. I would have freak[ed] out like everyday, you know. But, I think, in the
end, he told me that he knew all the time that, thanks to those stops, thanks
to all the terrible moment of how dire strait, as he would say, it was giving
him time to rewrite the script, to figure out how to give him space. Omitted.
32.
We hadWim visiting PortArthur. Every bar and places were empty.
PortArthur used to be a gamblingcity, and somehow theLaw changed inTexas, and
there was no more gambling allowed inTexas, so all the gambling went to the
other side of the river, SabinaRiver
inLouisiana, and suddenly PortArthur became a ghostcity, you know. So,
Wim liked this place so much and he decided with artdirector to use it to
create this peepshow with this glassconversation. The peepshowscene was sent
through telephone bySamShephard.
33.
The monologues.
34.
The peepshowmonologues. There are twoscenes. It's a peepshow
could only exist in a film. It's almost a place where you look for comfort.
It's not only sexualhealing, it's like soulhealing more or less. It was
reallytough, because Nastassja had only[one]week, so we had to do everything
inside oneweek. The bank, the hotelroom, the peepshow, the driving.
35.
I justremembered that JohnLurie appearssuddenly in the movie in
the peepshow.
36.
The scene was written and there was this guy at the bar with one
of the girls, and he looked like the pimp or the owner of the place. And he was
notanswering questions like a gentleman, let's say. And I looked at the
castingpicture we had in the truck, and I toldWim, I don't know. I think we
need to find a guy with snakeface, because. Laughter ofJones. All those guys
inTexas are reallywellfed, you know. Having steak.
37.
Chickenfries and steak.
38.
So, I said, What you say? Snakeface? I know one.
Laughter ofJones. He was having a holiday inJamaica, and he flewdirectly
fromJamaica toHouston.
39.
Had StrangerThanParadise been [completed] yet?
40.
In the middle. He had made, that shot one part, and were waiting
for the money to shoot thesecondpart. And I tookJohn nearPortArthur, near the
place where we were shooting. There was this place calledParisWig. No, it's
true. And was selling those brown suit, reallymade for gamblers, you know.
Brown and shiny material, you know. So, we went to buy burgundyredone
forJohnLurie, and Wim said, told me, Do you still have some per diem? Not much.
I thought, He's not going to borrow my money for breakfast, oh, no. He said,
Please, give me your per diem. So, I gave him my per diem, I lived. And he went
and bought a suit. Omitted.
41.
And did Wim plan early on to useRyCooder to do the score?
42.
While he was editing inBerlin, he told me that probably BobDylan
was going to compose the score. And then, for some reason, I was doing
locationscouting inUtah, and Wim called me, and he said, Do you have plan to go
toLosAngeles? I said, Yes. Do you have a car? I said, Yes. Pick me up at the
airport. I need stuff. In fact, he came inPhoenixArizona, and to clarity the
music and also to loops with-HarryDean and -DeanStockwell. And he was, the
filmbudget was gone, he was broke, so he understood that there would be no
music written byBobDylan, and the film had alreadybeen selected forCannes. And
suddenly, Wim thought aboutRyCooder, and RyCooder thought of him on tape one
evening, and thenextday, he was in the studio, and thedayafterthat, they
recorded music.
43.
How long did it take for him to record?
44.
A day and a night.
45.
Wow.
46.
Nonstop. Just like that.
47.
Was it duringCannes you saw the film for thefirsttime? That must
have been.
48.
I neverfelt emotion like that even with my own film, you know,
because it was like. To be ready in time, we had no optical sound. We were on
magnetictape, and on complete screening, I was afraid, we were all afraid that
they might desynchronise during the screening. So, I was almostfainting
almosteverysecond, you know. And I could feel something I've never felt since
that film, I don't know if the film. The film had grace that transports to
people at that moment. Good film and good audience at thesametime doesn't exist
often. But this time, there was this sort of, I could feel the breathing, you
know.
49.
In the room during the.
50.
In the room. And people crying. This is something, of course,
veryrare. Omitted.
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