Quatro Minutos

4 Minutes (2006)

This is the German "Four Minutes" and it's an intense look at a woman's prison and a prisoner who has a gift for playing piano. And then about an older woman who had some undisclosed issues in her past (during WWII) and is now steadfastly teaching piano in the prison. Music contests come along, and the inmate fights all the odds to compete.

That's the surface. Deeper and more interesting are the troubled psyches of the two leads, the younger woman vitriolic and intense (and quite believable), the older woman steely and cold and almost cruel. That they come to terms with one another is a given, sort of (that's what movies typically do), but how that turns on a couple of spectacular (and a little sensationalist) twists at the ends is pretty rousing.

There is great music, conflicts with Nazi and racist overtones, lesbianism, and of course, a rough and tumble prison world in contemporary Germany. That's enough for any good film. It makes it moving and the high stakes are somehow justified by the intense acting. It breaks conventions within a larger cliché of the heroine struggling against the odds. It has an odd and disturbing element about innocence, and this leads further into the psychology of the inmate, but it isn't quite resolved.

But it's all really interesting and provocative. You will probably cheer a little by the end, too.

Vier Minuten left me admiring a young actress, respecting our cultural achievements, and pondering freedom and what part music and literature plays in dividing us from the animal kingdom. Yes, I think this movie is a statement of cultural development in relationship to physical, mental, and emotional stress, anger, hatred, cruelty, and violence.

That is the Conflict theory of social progress.

It reminds me of all the rebellious youth who had something shocking, abrasive, antisocial, and yet astonishing to say in a new format. Hail, hail, rock and roll, Hip-Hop, Punk, Goth, New Wave, Rap, Swing, Jive, Big Band, and even Classical. We have come a long way since the days of Turlough O'Carolan or Steven Foster.

The plot is not as simple as you might think. Two women, both gifted, both abused and injured as youths, both driven. A father seeking redemption at the end of his life... a vast array of opponents meaning to deter hope and subdue expression. Movies have been built on oppression and hardship for a long time. It makes for a great story (like Purple Rain, for example).

Beauty and the beast... continuance, salvation, rebirth, dignity... you could ponder the factors of this movie for some time. The music itself is meant only to be representative, not sterling, and you must remember the settings. I found the opening hard rock song of the piano being transported to the prison absolutely fantastic, and the finale innovative, and yet reminiscent of the "Acid Freak Concerts" of the late 60s, oddly enough. Listen to The Rolling Stones - "Their Satanic Majesties Request", 1967. Maybe they even used the same piano and the strings in the same way. However, I won't tell you how this one ends....

Nevertheless, make no mistake: Hannah Herzsprung's performance throughout the movie is absolutely stunning, for lack of a better word. You will not forget it.

I had a great deal of trouble tracking down a copy of this movie, since DVD copies are hard to find. In the end, I was really glad I took the time, and now, I am tracking down the CD soundtrack as well... yes, I think it is well worth seeing the movie, and owning the music too.

If it only reminds us how to curtsey, and rebel at the same time....

I won't bore you with many words on this film: just go and see it. it is incredible. when I saw it at the cinema, at the end people clapped hands like in a theater. DON'T MISS IT.

the old and very severe Traude Krueger gives piano lessons in a prison and happens to notice the solitary, violent and rebellious but extremely talented Jenny and decides to make her participate (and surely win) in a piano competition facing all the problems of jenny's state as a prisoner and of their relationship (passing from indifference and not-liking each other to appreciation and a sort of friendship). the film alternates the present events and scenes from the also tormented past of the old teacher during the Nazi period. it shows the importance of not only punishing prisoners but the need of rehabilitation, of giving them a target, a dream in their otherwise useless lives.

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.

What a great movie ! I almost cried in the end . A must watch ! A must must watch. FANTASTIC LAST FOUR MINUTES