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11 Minutes: A Very Personal Short by Charles H. Peckham
A shooter awakes in the opening shot to Tom Botchii's '11 Minutes'. photo: courtesy T. Botchii
TOM BOTCHII FINDS IT IMPORTANT
to put personal experiences into his movies—"personal fire," it could be called.
In 2005, when he was in a band, he did “Confirmation Bias”, a series on local music. For a recent music video he directed, which included a live burial, he researched the subject by having a friend bury him alive (and dig him up shortly thereafter, of course).
His latest effort, “11 Minutes”, draws inspiration from one of the most personal sources conceivable—a suicide note he wrote as a teenager.
“You can’t do a project without being personally attached to it.” Botchii explains. “Otherwise, you’re just doing remakes like they do in Hollywood.”
“11 Minutes,” which can be seen here, or the trailer, go here, opens upon an unnamed protagonist awaking in a vast agrarian field and looking as though he hasn’t a clue where he is.
Rafael Siegel excellently plays the part, ably conveying both an intimidating and a sympathetic character. “He’s always up for a challenge,” says Botchii, who worked with Siegal with in the past.
Cuts are quickly made to the same protagonist pantomiming as though he has a shotgun and is indiscriminately killing anyone he comes across. Then we see him writing feverishly on a notepad, while the narration declares: “This is the last time you will ever hear from me.”
Director Botchii's unique inspiration for '11 Minutes': Being doused in blood. photo: courtesy T. Botchii
As we watch him shoot and kill people in his imagination, the narration continues to follow the suicide note, exploring the protagonists feelings of failure, inadequacy, and helplessness.
“His note is the only thing he’s focused on.” Botchii tells me “When he starts the rampage, he is focused. It’s time to get to a solution. ‘I can’t back out now,’ he tells himself. He starts freaking out when he sees a security guard coming around the corner. He then realizes this is real.”
I sympathize since sometimes many of us fall into a trap of believing any solution is better than no solution.
Though we hear shots fired and see people fall to the ground, there is no gun seen in “11 Minutes”. It isn’t until the end that we are clear if the shooting is real or imagined. In this way, the film can explore the relationship between fantasy and reality.
This film itself, of course, is a bridge between a real suicide note and a fictitious rampage. I ask Botchii how much of himself is in the main character. “Obviously I’m not suicidal or anything and I think I’m pretty happy,” he says.
From suicide to script, actor Rafael Siegel contemplates life or ending it. photo: courtesy T. Botchii
“In that sense, it’s not a reflection of me, but it is looking back on a dark period I had. Attaching personal elements to tell the story in a more realistic way is important to me."
"At the time I really wanted to get revenge on the world I was living in. I got my revenge by living well. The shooter in the movie tries another way.”
The end of the film suggests the motivation for the killing was related to a woman the protagonist had feelings for. In light of the recent shooting in Isla Vista, CA, it’s easy to see similarities, and yet, the movie's shooting seems to be motivated by an underlying tenderness, as opposed to bitterness and hatred.
“His goal is to end everything and when he gets to her and realizes she’s the one thing that made him happy," Botchii explains. "Then he feels regret. He realizes he’s made her cry and he realizes he doesn’t want to go through with it but he still thinks he has to."
"He can’t kill her. He’s not strong enough to do that. The whole reason I didn’t want to have a backstory is because I wanted to leave that up to interpretation. For some people she’s an ex-girlfriend. For others, it’s a crush. For others, it’s a sister. There’s some kind of relationship but we don’t necessarily need to know what that is.”
Tom Botchii does the first clap stick for his movie. photo: courtesy T. Botchii
“Every time I’ve had a project he’s been up for doing it for free. So when I do something that I think might get him exposure, I want to use him.
I end my interview Botchii by asking him about Pancake Circus, the oddly cheery location where much of “11 Minutes” was shot.
“A friend of mine took me there once because he’d always wanted to shoot a horror movie there. The inside has creepy clown decorations and it would be a great fit. I had gone to other places, but when I told them I wanted to film a movie about a workplace shooting they refused."
"I told Pancake Circus we were doing an action sequence, and they gave us the okay on shooting there for two days. That turned into one day so we had to cut some scenes. That’s how it goes. If you want to make a movie you have to make it work with what you have, and just do it."
Charles H. Peckham V is a writer and movie buff living in San Diego, who can be reached .