Sideways

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2004, 122 min
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

Miles, a divorced aspiring writer who teaches English and has a passion for good wine, drags his friend Jack, an unsuccessful soap-opera star about to get married, on a wine tour along the by-ways of California. As Miles continues to pine for his ex-wife, Jack is in search of one last adventure before he weds. The trip gives them both a chance to reflect on their failures and to question themselves about friendship and love. A smart comedy about mid-life crisis, love, sex, friendship, trust, betrayal, ordinary people - and wine. The film received the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. “My co-writer Jim Taylor and I write a lot of ourselves and our sense of human experience into our screenplays. So perhaps we are all of the characters and none of them simultaneously. Certainly the film as a whole reflects the type of shared sense of humour that we have toward life. By the way, I heard a nice definition for a comedy, which is: Comedy is a tragedy in disguise.” (Alexander Payne)

About the director

Alexander Payne (b. 1961, Omaha, Nebraska) studied Spanish History and Literature at Stanford University and later took a film course at UCLA. He debuted as director in 1991 with the medium-length film The Passion of Martin, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. His first full-length film, Citizen Ruth (1996), was presented at the Montreal IFF, where Laura Dern, the film’s star, was awarded Best Actress. Paynes next film, Election (1998) won numerous prizes for the screenplay and an Oscar nomination for Best Adaptation. In 2002, his film About Schmidt received Golden Globe awards for Best Direction and Best Screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar. Payne’s latest film, Sideways, was given an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Films: The Passion of Martin (1992, short), Citizen Ruth (1996), Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004).