It’s always fun to see the evolution of a filmmaker’s voice and thanks to the power of the internet we can peer even further back through a director’s body of work. For example, an odd short film from Alexander Payne has been unearthed, an effort that was completed over a decade before the “Nebraska” director would get a shot at his feature-length film.
Lasting over fifteen minutes and made during Payne’s studies at the UCLA Film School, the short film “Carmen” lacks any dialogue and relies primarily on music and some choice sound effects. The short’s definitely a little broader and structurally it’s stranger than something like “Sideways,” but it provides some context for the Preston Sturgess-leaning “Citizen Ruth” with its screwball energy.
Watch the short below. [Thompson On Hollywood via Cinephilia & Beyond]