Four Minutes (2006)

'Four Minutes' tells the story of the clash of two women of iron will: one a convicted murderer, the other an aged piano teacher. There's a lot to like in the premise, but the film never completely transcends it; and there's a certain quantity of pointless time-shifting (two scenes shown in a scrambled chronological order) which failed, from my perspective, to add anything to the film. What I did like was the absence of easy answers: two damaged people connect, but only a little, and never well enough to wholly bridge the gulf between them; and although there's a conventional, contest-focused storyline, the film is never just about who will win, even if it never truly reaches the depths it aspires to.

I first saw Hannah Herzsprung in The Reader. It was a nice filler part. I saw her recently in The Baader-Meinhoff Komplex. It was a brief part, but very emotionally powerful. In Vier Minuten I found her performance astounding. It reminded me of Klaus Kinsi's performance in his Jesus Erloeser monologue. Hannah expresses a performance in Vier Minuten that completely makes me believe the frustration of a young woman permanently placed in prison. She has been convicted of murder. I was able to see the sorrow of being in that place, and found compassion for the circumstances. I did experience a sense of apprehension as I viewed the film. It comes down to the energy of the performance Hannah expresses. Don't take this film lightly. It is straight forward and brutally honest.

An elderly spinster piano teacher in a womens prison,Mrs.Kruger, takes one of the inmates,Jenny,under her wing.The teacher loves music but can't connect with people.Jenny is young and absolutely gifted,but hates playing because it brings back a personal trauma from her past.The teacher tries to teach the student about respect,whilst the student reminds the teacher what it's like to be young and emotional.There are sub plots concerning both of their respective past personal lives but basically,it is just about two characters from vastly different generations and backgrounds who form an uneasy alliance in a harsh environment,and both of them benefit from the experience.Keep a box of tissues handy because the film is an emotional roller-coaster.I have no doubt that if they remade this in Hollywood with A-list stars, (which they probably eventually will),that it would clean up at the Oscars.But I guarantee that it would not be as good as this movie.Four Minutes (Vier Minuten) is actually about 110 minutes,and pretty much every one of them is worthy.A must see movie.

The women's prison in Germany in which this film is set is a place of bullying and beatings, of despair and suicide, of boredom, football and ping-pong. In these grim surroundings an elderly visiting piano teacher collides with a wild inmate serving a life sentence for murder and harbouring an extraordinary talent for piano. Traude and Jenny are polarised personalities from the moment that they meet; again and again their differences boil up and threaten Jenny's entry into a young pianist competition. Their path is troubled further by the hostility of prison inmates and staff alike, including Kowalski, an emasculated prison guard played by Richy Muller, and the reappearance of Jenny's father, which dredges up terrible memories.Through confrontation of demons past and present, both Traude and Jenny begin to delve into the other's background, revealing the reality beyond the ossified teacher and the abominable student. Traude's history is illuminated through flashbacks to the Second World War, but although these scenes are well choreographed and filmed, they fit awkwardly at best into the main narrative and encroach upon a sterling performance by Monica Bleidbtrau. The details of Jenny's life are left scarce and tantalising, which plays to Hannah Herzsprung's performance, by turns angry and beautiful, scary and charming.This film is graced by some excellent pieces of classical music, at least from my standpoint as a layperson in the classical music world. The musical and dramatic highlight comes at the film's climax – the Four Minutes of the film's title, which features a stunningly original composition, encapsulating the turmoil of the previous two hours and leaving a vivid and lasting impression.