“This business is all about how we need to see more heroes in movies. I hate that.” —Alexander Payne
From June 3-11, the Walker Art Center presents the Regis Dialogue and Retrospective
Alexander Payne: Sideways Glance at America
opening with a Regis Dialogue between Payne and Los Angeles Times critic/National Public Radio commentator Kenneth Turan on Friday, June 3, at 8 pm. Subsequent programs feature Payne’s UCLA Film School thesis film, The Passion of Martin, on Saturday, June 4, at 7:30 pm, which screens with Citizen Ruth at 8:30 pm; Payne’s most recent film, Sideways, which won an Oscar last year for Best Adapted Screenplay, on Wednesday, June 8, at 7:30 pm; About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson, which screens on Friday, June 10, 7:30 pm; and Election, starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, on Saturday, June 11, 7:30 pm.
Writer-director Alexander Payne’s filmography of dark comic satires is packed with punch—his projects chosen, written, and directed with care as intricate character studies incorporating intelligent and humorous social commentary. His career began with the rare feat of getting his film school thesis project screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In the mid-1990s he began a creative collaboration with Jim Taylor: they selected projects and wrote scripts together, with Payne at the directorial helm. An amazing collection of films emanated from this alliance: the caustic, abortion-themed Citizen Ruth; the hilariously biting, complex portrayal of American high school personalities, Election; and the heartbreaking late-life-crisis tale About Schmidt—all of which are at turns loving tributes and sarcastic indictments of the Midwestern psyche. Payne’s latest creation, Sideways, is a luminous, subversively intelligent and nuanced gem.
Proclaiming a “Declaration of Independents” in Variety last year, Payne argues for his belief in the necessity of humane, intelligent, and uplifting cinema, and lends his own insight to the ongoing debate over the definition of “independent” film. Noting that it is less about the mode of financing than the craft, he writes, “Cinema is independent only to the degree that it reflects the voice of one person, the director.” Payne’s films illustrate that he is true to his word—they are all marked with his individual stamp. He is one of a few directors currently working within the Hollywood system with final editing rights to his films, and his pitch-perfect casting stems from an insistence on actors suited to the part, rather than their star-power. “I want all of my films to belong to me,” he says. “There is an audience out there for literate films—slower, more observant, more human films, and they deserve to be made.”
Payne’s emergence at the forefront of contemporary American directors gives hope to the ideal of an original cinema that is both smart and entertaining. The Walker welcomes this independent voice in American film (fresh from the 2005 Cannes Film Festival) back to the heartland.
Unless otherwise noted, all films are $8 ($6 Walker members) and are presented in the Walker Cinema. Tickets are available at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600.
This Regis Dialogue and Retrospective is made possible by generous support from the Regis Foundation.
ALEXANDER PAYNE: SIDEWAYS GLANCE AT AMERICA
REGIS DIALOGUE AND RETROSPECTIVE
June 3-11
Walker Cinema
Friday, June 3
Regis Dialogue with Alexander Payne and Kenneth Turan, 8 pm
$24 ($12 Walker members)
Accompanied by clips from his films, Payne discusses his creative process and reflects on his career with Los Angeles Times critic/National Public Radio commentator Kenneth Turan. Tickets go on sale to Walker members May 3. Remaining tickets go on sale to the general public May 24.
Saturday, June 4
Double Feature
The Passion of Martin, 7:30 pm
Written and directed by Alexander Payne
Payne’s UCLA Film School thesis was screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and garnered him international attention. A haunting look at a photographer’s romantic obsession with the woman who admires his work, this film laid the framework for Payne’s subsequent dark American comedies. 1990, U.S., color, 16mm, 49 minutes.
with
Citizen Ruth, 8:30 pm
Directed by Alexander Payne; written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
The first of Payne’s richly creative collaborations with Jim Taylor is a sharply comedic examination of the politicization of abortion as each side is equally lampooned. Featuring Laura Dern in a hilarious turn as an indigent paint-sniffer. 1996, U.S., color, 35mm, 102 minutes.
Wednesday, June 8
Sideways, 7:30 pm
Directed by Alexander Payne; screenplay adapted by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Payne’s most recent film veers from the fertile satiric territory of middle America into sunnier climes in its depiction of two middle-aged, oddly matched friends on a road trip through California wine country. Sideways has garnered more than 80 awards, including an Oscar for its adapted screenplay. 2004, U.S., color, 35mm, 123 minutes.
Friday, June 10
About Schmidt, 7:30 pm
Directed by Alexander Payne; screenplay adapted by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
As Warren Schmidt, Jack Nicholson plays a lifeless middle manager lost in middle America. “A comedy poised on the knife’s edge of tragedy, the film is a gutsy, truthful, deeply rooted vision of contemporary American life, scaled to the size of an ordinary man” (Los Angeles Times). 2002, U.S., color, 35mm, 125 minutes.
Saturday, June 11
Election, 7:30 pm
Directed by Alexander Payne; screenplay adapted by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
A wickedly acerbic satire that turns the high school movie genre on its head. Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is a high school civics teacher with conflicted feelings toward his wife, job, and star pupil. Reese Witherspoon is a force of nature as Tracy Flick, an ambitious schemer driven to win the school election. Like Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt, Election is set in Payne’s hometown of Omaha, where he leaves no character or personality unskewered. 1999, U.S., color, 35mm, 103 minutes.
