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...Having good films is like enjoying a delicious meal in a nice restaurant...

12. 10 Minutes Older: The Trumpet
Germany 2002 B/W/ Colour 92min

"If seven of our greatest living directors each had 10 minutes to kill, what would they do? Make a film, of course. Given a free hand to create a 10-minute short on the theme of Time, Kaurismaki, Erice, Herzog, Jarmusch, Wenders, Spike Lee, Chen Kaige come up with mini-masterpieces that bear the unmistakable stamp of each one's style. Traversing history and crossing time-zones (a Siberian oilfield, a Beijing parking lot, the Brazilian rainforest, the Spanish countryside), the possibilities of time treatment prove ad infinitum. The mighty trumpet improvisations by Hugh Masekela provide a smooth interface for each segment."

This is the first half of the 10 minutes project done by various directors. For more about the project, please refer to www.tenminutesolder.com.

Dogs have no Hell (Aki Kaurismaki)

A simple story. The title of the film is lively to the aspiration and perspective of life to people in Russia. Siberia can be a rural area from us, but to the people there, it's a golden field with oil reserves. Without describing much the place, the film wrote a decision made by the character within 10 minutes to make a great change to his life. To engage with his lover and go for their new lives. Will they still see their fatherland? They can be another group of rootless people. (6/10)

Lifeline (Victor Enice)

A masterpiece touching moment, though also 10 minutes, about the life and dead of a baby. The construction of the scenes were great. Quiet in the village, everyone is at one's position to work and live, and during this moment, a baby experienced the borderline between living and dying, and even so, the baby might have never recognized this special 10 minutes to him. The scene of a boy listening to his "watch" drawn on his waist was gorgeous. Faded memory, just like the wetted newspaper, will pass away some day quietly, without any sign. (9/10)

10,000 Years Older (Werner Herzog)

I like this piece by Herzog as well. In 10 minutes, we walked through the timeline of over 10,000 years. I am not sure if there would still be any hidden tribe in the world now, but if so, maybe they would prefer to stay away our world…the story is inspiring, and it reminds me again the story of 2001:Space Odyssey. If we are to scatter a group of people into some, and separate them in this universe for a certain of time, each of them would develop in its way, can be the same way, or can be totally different. Some may develop faster than others. So when you see these scattered groups again after certain period of time later. How would this be? When we, the so called modern people, meet the tribes in the stone age, what would happen? Herzog made a visit to the Amazon Basin again…I guess the tribes might have shocked by this outer world by all kinds of "tools", from car to airplane, from radio to clock. Just like what I can imagine when we meet with the ETs…..it's funny seeing the tribe leader holding a clock. What is time to him? Does 10 minutes mean anything to him? And now they are wearing T-Shirts with Portguese on them… (9/10)

Int.Trailer.Light (Jim Jarmusch)

10 minutes inside a trailer. The film is about an actress's daily life. There are breaks between scenes, and in a break of 10 minutes, the actress simply reflects her life in front of the camera with another hectic time. I guess Jim did not intend to tell too much about 10 minutes, as indeed shown on the scene, 10 minutes can be such a short while everyone will not remember after it passed. But when I saw the actress stretching her legs, I could feel that her self was just deprived by the character or the job. Life may just be an act. (7/10)

12 Miles to Trona (Wim Wenders)

Wim Wenders is still on the highway. Along his all-the-way, it is not surprise when I saw the film start again from somewhere on the road. Sounded with Eels' beat, the film was about a man looking for an extension (or continuation) of life on the road. Blurred images, distorted colours, continuously, this is Wim Wenders on the road. (6.5/10) We Wuz Robbed (Spike Lee) A 10-minute documenting the election of US President. Funny words, interesting moments and pictures. Politics is always like this. (6/10)

1,000 Flowers Hidden Deep (Chan Haige)

The Chinese name is beautiful - 葬花誰笑痴. This is a tragic story. Unexpectedly cool and impressive!! The music was also good. It was just the animation that made the film from a perfect piece. This is one of the impressive moment I had this year in the festival. (8.5/10) **************************

Other Films ...
01. The Doll
02. Salome
03. The Son (Le Fils)
04. 17 Times Cecile Cassard
05. Seaside (Bord de mer)
06. Tycoon (Un nouveau russe)
07. A Snake of June (Rokugatsu No Hebi)
08. Fists in the Pocket (I pugni in tasca)
09. Parlez-moi d'amour
10. Noi Albinoi
11. Morning Sun
12. 10 Minutes Older: The Trumpet
13. Spider
14. Lundi Matin (Monday Morning)
15. 10 Minutes Older: The Cello
16. Auto Focus

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