Four Minutes Reviews

'Four minutes' is a 2006 German movie about a young woman prisoner Jenny and her old piano teacher Kruger. While the music class part by part the past stories of these women reveal to us. The flashback reveals that this prison used to be a hospital where the old piano teacher worked and her affair with another nurse. And another flashback about Jenny and her difficulty earlier life she went through. As a talented, Jenny is also the rough and tough with her inmates. Like all the prison story here too there be a trouble giving enemy and a tough warden who always eye on her. Their's target is Jenny, to stop her from taking piano lessons and entering the competition.

Jenny was a musical prodigy and her initial portions of the story were portrayed as she's sorta some rebellion. There were many scenes I just don't get it like the security provided for Jenny during she was taken for the contest on the outside. And I don't know why the story had some racism remarks on Afro-European music in a couple of scenes and it never explained anywhere later. I guess those days are like that especially in Nazi Germany.

Still I felt both the two main characters were not explained well especially Jenny's past were mostly told as a story than what we are expected to see as the actual one. In Kruger case it was different it showed the main portions of her flashbacks to match it with preset of her. The last four minutes of the movie are what represents the title before the credit rolls up. That was a grand finale for a movie with a story like this. The end scene was kinda good like the movies 'Sound of Noise' or 'August Rush'.

The movie cover shows a skinny girl in a sexy dress... wait: are those handcuffs?
Yeah. This is a jail movie and most of all a great character study with great actresses. It´s hard, emotional and makes you grind your teeth and break a tear at the same time.

The movie cover is somewhat a lie: this is not a sensual movie, it´s a harsh and hard movie about a problematic and violent girl who also plays piano (a unsubtle way to remember people that no one can just be defined by one trait). You may hate or love the protagonist, you may understand her or not but you will empathize with her because the character feels true.

I loved it. I watched this movie with my girlfriend some years ago after renting it without knowing anything about it and we were really surprised. I loved it and she hated it, you will probably be in one of those two camps. I will never forget this movie but perhaps it´s because it surprised me so much.

Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung) is in prison. Traude (Monica Bleibtreu) teaches piano to four students in the same prison. One day, Traude discovers Jenny's extraordinary talent for the instrument; she enrolls her in a contest, but will Jenny go through with it...

A most excellent casting.
Definitely a fascinating script, that makes sense from start to finish.
Great directing, by the same man who directed _The Lives of Others_ and _The Counterfeiters_, 2 other wonderful movies.

Definitely worth watching.