"Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet" is a collection of seven short films linked by the theme of time, and separated by a musical interlude of voluptuous jazz trumpet. Conceived by British producer-director Nicolas McClintock, this collection (along with the forthcoming "Ten Minutes Older: The Cello") showcases some of the finest cinematic talents around.
As with all compilations, some segments work better than others. Spike Lee's "We Wuz Robbed" recalls the ten minutes that stood between Al Gore conceding defeat and demanding a recount in the 2000 election campaign. Full of Lee's no-nonsense radicalism, it brilliantly reveals the illegal 'Bush-whacking' that led to George Jr becoming president.
Werner Herzog's documentary "Ten Thousand Years Older" proves just as astounding, following a lost Amazon jungle tribe for whom time has run out as they're dragged into the 21st century kicking and screaming. It looks faked, but the sad fact is it's probably completely true.
Jim Jarmusch's "Int.Trailer.Night" takes an understated, comedic look at the filmmaking process, with Chloë Sevigny as an actress on a break in her trailer, listening to some beautiful classical music while exposed to the humdrum realities of making film art.
In "Twelve Miles to Trona" Wim Wenders takes us on a hallucinogenic roadtrip with a man who's swallowed an unusual batch of cookies, while other segments include Aki Kaurismäki doing his usual enigmatic schtick, Chinese director Chen Kaige meditating on his homeland's economic revolution, and Victor Erice's muted tale of a Spanish village in 1940.
Ironically, it's those with the most to say who manage to bend their allotted time into something remarkable, while those filmmakers with little more than an idea struggle. For instance, Wenders' "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"-style psychedelic trip exemplifies the latter.
If all the sections were as strong as Lee, Herzog and Jarmusch's, tempus would surely fugit, but as it stands this is occasionally meandering.
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2003)
