Twelve Miles To Trona
《Twelve Miles To Trona》is my favorite among the six ten-minutes films which compose the bigger film《Ten Minutes Older：The Trumpt》. I like it because it’s a Wim Winders’ film. Ten minutes is too short, and a ten-minutes film usually seems either too small or incomplete. But Winders is good at shooting short films, which I have seen some before. They are very good.
It was a story about the critical ten minutes before death. A man was dying, alone. His life and death depended on whether he could make it through the ten minutes not. Ten minutes fighting for survival.
The story began with a man stopped his car infront of a smalltown hospital. He looked like a 30 something middle-class businessman, wearing a clean shirt, driving a convertible and listening to Rock ‘n Roll. He was disappointed to find out that the hospital was closed. Then he looked around. The road sign said “Trona 12 miles.” He looked at his watch, and he told to himself, “I can make it.” Then he got on road again. He was badly sick but he cannot find any help.
He was blocked from the outside world because the digital signal to make a cell phone was weak. Seeing from the man’s point of view, the road was twisted. He had accidently took overdosed drug. He saw a beautiful scene along the road out of illusion. It seemed that the time crystalized at the moment. But next moment, back to the reality, he knew he could not sustain any more, so he preyed to god.
A car just stopped by, a young girl took her to the hospital. Before he passed out, he kept mumbling “Tell my wife I am sorry. I have done my best but I just cannot make it, ” “I would tell my little girl the beautiful scene on the road. it’s a pity that you can’t see it.”
After he work up, He looked at the girl, said “you are a very good driver.” She said, “I just got my license a week ago.”
Plus, I almost forget to mention the music. It’s from Eels’ 2002 SOULJACKER album. I like it. Wenders surely has a good taste for music.
WIm Wenders
“My Ten Minutes deals with three R’s, the Road, Rock’n Roll and the Relativity of Time. They’re based on a personal experience, I’m afraid to say, and even if I took some liberties, I did not exaggerate.