Vier Minuten (2006)

An elderly piano teacher trains a young convict at a women's penitentiary.

Director:

Chris Kraus

Writer:

Chris Kraus

Stars:

Hannah Herzsprung, Monica Bleibtreu, Vadim Glowna

22 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Monica Bleibtreu	...	Gertrud 'Traude' Krüger
Hannah Herzsprung	...	Jenny von Loeben
Sven Pippig	...	Mütze
Richy Müller	...	Kowalski
Jasmin Tabatabai	...	Ayse
Stefan Kurt	...	Direktor Meyerbeer
Vadim Glowna	...	Gerhard von Loeben
Nadja Uhl	...	Nadine Hoffmann
Peter Davor	...	Journalist Wahrig
Edita Malovcic	...	Traude - jung
Christian Koerner	...	SS-Sturmbannführer
Kathrin Kestler	...	Hannah
Amber Bongard	...	Clara Mütze
Dietrich Hollinderbäumer	...	Pater Vincens
Dieter Moor	...	TV-Moderator

Storyline

In Germany, the elder Frau Traude Krueger gives piano classes in a prison for a few prisoners and the security guard Mütze. When she sees the rebel and aggressive Jenny Von Loeben 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

piano | convict | prisoner | prison | women's prison | 

---

Taglines:

The next German film sensation after The Lives of Others

---

Genres:

Drama | Music

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [France] Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

18 April 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cuatro minutos

Filming Locations:

Luckau, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kordes & Kordes Film GmbH, Südwestrundfunk (SWR), Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 112 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When student Jenny is at Frau Krüger's (b. 1926) home, a picture of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and one of Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) can be seen on the wall above the piano. Earlier, we see a picture of Furtwängler when the young Krüger is being coerced by a member of the Nazi party to rebuke her friendship with her then student (circa 1944).

---

Goofs

In several sequences where we see Jenny playing the piano, the notes we hear do not correspond to the keys she plays.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Gertrud 'Traude' Krüger: I'm very sorry.
Direktor Meyerbeer: About what?
Gertrud 'Traude' Krüger: Them dying.
Direktor Meyerbeer: I'm sorry about how they died.

---

Connections

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

User Reviews

Turbulent, engrossing, incredible film

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.