Simply A Masterpiece

How sad is this?

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Vier Minuten" is probably the most known work from German writer and director Chris Kraus. At the German Film Awards, it won Best Picture (over Academy award winner "Die Fälscher), gave the late Monica Bleibtreu (Moritz' mother) a Best Actress win and scored nominations for Kraus' writing and directing as well as Herzsprung's acting. She lost to Bleibtreu, but won in the supporting category for another movie. I thought Herzsprung played very well here, so I am a bit surprised and disappointed about the fact that she played mostly cheesy parts in weak romance movies in recent years. Time for something more challenging again.There were a few issues I had with this movie, like that Bleibtreu's character does not want to help initially, but after Herzsprung's character violently assaults a police officer she suddenly wants? Also I felt that Lesbian reference came out of nowhere a bit only to make the movie maybe more interesting. Also the whole Nazi past and alcoholism references were maybe a bit too much. It seems as if they tried to include so many baity aspects and then did not entirely elaborate on these. It's certainly not a film as important as it sees itself. The female prison inmates struggling with each other was solid, one of the better parts of the film. Tabatabai does a good job with her minor character.Near the end of the movie, all the smaller characters are pretty much out of the picture and it's all about the two protagonists which I liked, even if the late Sven Pippig plays an interesting character who is actually a nice person, but gets drawn a bit towards the dark side due to the back lash he keeps experiencing in his job and even on national television. The film ends with the four minutes described int he title which are the big piano performance from Herzsprung's character before she gets arrested on stage.As a whole, I felt this was a decent movie, but nowhere near as good as all the awards it won and was nominated for would make you think. It's a bit predictable (prison girl becomes music superstar despite all the obstacles) and the final piano scene felt like an extract from a weak American Idol episode to me where everybody is silent after the performance and then breaks into loud applause. The whole piano performance did not feel as emotional and free-breaking to me as I wished it could have been to be the true highlight of the movie as the makers intended it to. Nonetheless, it's slightly under two hours of solid entertainment and I recommend it, especially if you are interested in German cinema. On a random final side-note, I felt this movie looked a lot older than from 2006, maybe 90s or even 80s, but that helped the prison atmosphere maybe.

This psychological drama/thriller and in-depth study of character set in a German prison for women, tells a gripping story about a wrongfully imprisoned young woman with a hidden musical talent who is discovered by a piano teacher."Vier Minuten" is engagingly and acutely directed by Chis Krause who also wrote this detailed and awe-inspiring story about a profound relationship between two women from different generations. Hannah Herzsprung is impressively good in her extrovert lead performance which is matched by the far more experienced actress Monica Bleibtreu's introvert performance in a film where the music increases it's emotional impact and moods, and is as crucial as an instrument for conveying the story as the dialog, the setting, the visuals and the narrative. Highly regarded and highly recommended!

It's only the second feature film of German director Chris Kraus, but it's already a strong, mature and dark drama that goes much beyond the apparent limits of its place and time.It's a jail story. Jenny, the main heroine of the story is jailed for murder and has little chances to see anything than prison for the rest of her life. She is however also a very gifted pianist, but her rebellious character drives her playing as it drives anything that she does in life.The penitentiary system, as enlightened as it may be in a country as Germany has the bureaucratic, oppressive, and shadowy treats of any system that punishes and deprives men of their liberty.It's a friendship story. Traude, the piano teacher who gives music lessons to detainees in order to ease their time and improve their lives and who befriends and supports her is herself a survivor of the Nazi persecutions, who is too familiar with suffering and with what life without freedom and hope means. Yet their friendship is not an easy one, none of them is a communicator, the level of mistrust and fears that the outer world imposed on both of them prevents them from relying on each other.It's a music story. Music is supposed to play the role of redeemer and possibly do the job of deus-ex-machina in changing the fate of the heroes of the story. Yet the director who is also the script writer avoided the easy path and never falls into conventional melodrama. More than that, music is one of the conflict reasons between Jenny and Traude and in the superb final scene of the film Hannah will win her internal freedom by rejecting the classical beauty and conventional balance of the symphonic music for the freedom of improvisation of the 'negro' music that expresses herself.... and in the final seconds of the four minutes they seem to meet - psychologically and in music.Acting which is traditionally a strong item in German movies is superb here. I have already seen Hannah Herzsprung in Der Baader Meinhof Komplex and The Reader - here she gets the full screen for a role of a broken young woman, which music cannot redeem completely. Monica Belibtrau is the piano teacher - she is supposed to be the redeemer but far from being linear and angelic she cannot free herself from the sufferings and guilt of the past, and from her own limitations.Vier Minuten may surprise with its pessimistic message - if a remake is ever made at Hollywood it better keep the skeptical look, as any other approach risks to turn it into a valueless melodrama.

In Germany, the elder Frau Traude Krueger (Monica Bleibtreu) gives piano classes in a prison for a few prisoners and the security guard Mütze (Sven Pippig). When she sees the rebel and aggressive Jenny Von Loeben (Hannah Herzsprung) playing piano, she immediately identifies her potential and offers to teach her for a competition. Frau Krueger finds that Jenny was a prodigy when she was a child; abused when she was a teenager and has been imprisoned for murdering and decapitating a man. Along the period they work together preparing for the exhibition, Frau Krueger discloses secrets about her love in World War II while the self-destructive Jenny has four minutes of glory and recognition of her talent."Vier Minuten" is another powerful and engaging German movie, disclosing the story of two women having nothing in common but their passion for music and tormented souls. The non-linear beginning is quite confused, but provocative and intriguing (I saw this movie on DVD and I watched the first chapters again to get a better understanding); however, after ten minutes, the story becomes intelligible with the development of the characters, supported by magnificent performances and wonderful cinematography. The story is deep and touching, and viewers that enjoy superficial Hollywoodian fairy tales may not like this dense drama developed in low-pace. Monica Bleibtreu and the lovely Hannah Herzsprung have top-notch performances that deserved nomination to the Oscar. The conclusion is thrilling and heartbreaking, and will probably make the eyes of sensitive viewers wet. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Quatro Minutos" ("Four Minutes")