The Passion of Martin

Alexander Payne's student film, where the first version of his known manner is already present. Martin is a photographer. In his thirties, alone, and determined to find the love of his life. He meets Rebecca and the relationship starts. Then the gap opens between what Martin expects and what is actually happening: he sees the relationship as a deliverance, she sees it as a relationship. The tone comes from there. The narrative shows how obsession dresses itself as romance, and constructs it as comedy; the cold humour of Payne's later films, the stance of seeing a character exactly without mocking him, is already here. It was his thesis work at UCLA. It runs close to fifty minutes, so it is neither a short nor a feature. It screened at Sundance in 1991 and opened the way to Payne signing with a studio soon after. Charley Hayward plays Martin and Lisa Zane plays Rebecca. A valuable record for admirers of Payne's cinema and anyone curious about directors' first work. For a viewer expecting a mature film, this is a student piece and technically looks like one.