Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2012)

Directed by: Sophie Huber | 77 minutes | documentary, biography | Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Sam Shepard, Kris Kristofferson, Wim Wenders, Debbie Harry, Jamie James, Logan Sparks

Actor Harry Dean Stanton, who died in September 2017 at the age of 91, is a classic character head in the arthouse genre. He achieved that with one unforgettable role: Travis Henderson in ‘Paris, Texas’ – for those who didn’t know yet. Before that, he starred in ‘The Godfather II’ and as a lead actor alongside Jack Nicholson in ‘Man Trouble’. Stanton has done a lot more in the 33 years since ‘Paris, Texas’, including the David Lynch films ‘Wild at Heart’, ‘The Straight Story’ and ‘Inland Empire’ and several more episodes of ‘ Twin Peaks’; as of March 2018, he can be seen in John Caroll Lynch’s ‘Lucky’.

‘Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction’ by Sophie Huber dates back to 2012, and collects both the great’s experiences with Stanton (Wenders, Lynch et al.) and reflections on the little big man himself. He opens the film with a cover of ‘Blue Bayou’ accompanied by an acoustic guitar. A singing Stanton on the homely sofa is worth registering alone. His voice – broken, has something larmoyant and dry at the same time. As if a Mexican is hiding behind a crumbling facade. Harry Dean Stanton is rock ‘n’ roll like standing water, and also in documentary reality a kind of ghost, although the question is how and why. You have more of that in the movie world, but not as naturally fragile as Stanton.

Sometimes these actors got their image because they drink too much. But the work remains, if it is good. Stanton is as forthcoming as he is inscrutable, and Huber seems to make little effort to elicit big statements from him. It makes no sense, by the way, even the outpouring that Rebecca de Mornay once left him for Tom Cruise is recalled with a shrug. Huber places Stanton on a three-seater sofa next to David Lynch and sees two men smoking at the ends, one well-groomed and eloquent, the other scruffy and reactive. Has it ever been different? Probably not. Does it explain anything? New. Should you watch it? Yes. Watching Harry Dean Stanton is watching a life without stardust. Watching a humble person stumble in the darkness.