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Four Minutes
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    Sixty years ago Traude Kruger began teaching music at a women's prison. Now, on her search for possible students, she meets Jenny: a violent young inmate convicted of murder, and also a brilliant pianist. When Kruger convinces prison authorities to let her train Jenny for a public competition at the Berlin Opera House, the past resurfaces for both women and a lesson in humanity is learnt that they will each never forget.

    Rated: [ MA ] STRONG THEMES, INFREQUENT STRONG COARSE LANGUAGE
    Cinema release: 28 Jun 2007
    Director: Chris Kraus
    Running time: 112 mins
    Stars: Hannah Herzsprung, Monica Bleibtreu
    Links: Official Site
    IMDb
    Rotten Tomatoes

    What we say
    Arresting tale of a ticking timebomb

    Georgia Sholl, MovieFix  
    3.5 star rating
    "Four Minutes" is the intense story of an unlikely relationship between two women, told with vivid urgency by director Chris Kraus.

    Traude (Monica Bleibtreu) is an elderly piano teacher, haunted by the shame of her sexual past. Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung) is a convicted murderer and former musical prodigy, bound up by rage and ready to explode.

    Inside the hostile, ugly world of Luckau women's prison Jenny and Traude, separated by age and experience, work along side each other and search for common ground. If Traude can harness Jenny's skills and contain her rage there is a chance Jenny will win a prestigious competition, bringing the prison much needed positive publicity.

    The two protagonists provide an interesting contrast; Traude is a sad figure - haunted by a life lived in regret, longing and shame. Her self-appointed punishment is evident in her stoop, the set of her mouth and her hardened manner. Jenny is a heart-breaking wasted opportunity, a life ended before it barely had a chance to begin. She is out of control and hurtling towards an inevitable breaking point. Both are tragic products of choices and circumstances earlier in their lives.

    "Four Minutes" bursts forth with feverish imagery and is carried expertly by newcomer Hannah Herzsprung. Her Jenny is simultaneously fragile and beastly, raw and uncontained. Her final piano performance is particularly bracing.

    Unfortunately "Four Minutes" is a bit contrived - the viewer is never totally immersed in the word of the film, and the structure also tends towards patchiness. Flashbacks paint Traude as a young lesbian hopelessly in love, however the film's message about this is unclear - are we to see her as a victim of her sexuality?

    "Four Minutes" is an arresting, if sometimes confused cinematic experience which communicates its message with a searing, brutal urgency.

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