| Four Minutes | 
 enlarge | Director: Chris Kraus
Actors: Monica Bleibtreu, Hannah Herzsprung, Sven Pippig, Richy Mueller, Stefan Kurt
Studio: WOLFE VIDEO
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $16.44
You Save: $8.51 (34%)
Buy New/Used from $9.95
Avg. Customer Rating:   (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 12250
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: German (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 112 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WLFD4478D
UPC: 754703762900
EAN: 0754703762900
ASIN: B001DGFGOU
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
For over sixty years, aged pianist Traude Krueger has been teaching piano at the women s prison. But she s never met someone like Jenny, a convicted killer beating everything around her to a pulp just to amuse herself. But Jenny used to be a great musical talent. And she still is under her impenetrable facade. She could manage to win a prestigious piano contest she is allowed to participate in despite her prison sentence. However, a contest is no challenge to someone who wants life to stand still.
Amazon.com
Four Minutes recalls the lineage of films dedicated to marginalized characters who find solace in piano playing, such as Jane Campion?s The Piano, yet there is more to this drama than the story of a woman yearning for autonomy. Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung), a prisoner described as the type to "steal a smoke from a corpse" by another inmate, is wasting away in a German penitentiary until she is recruited by piano teacher, Traude Krueger (Monica Bleibtrau), to train for a contest coming up. Krueger, who sees Jenny?s fingers keying organ music on her church pew in Sunday mass, realizes Jenny?s innate talent and slowly heals her student through music as well as through conversations revealing their mutually difficult pasts. While Jenny?s violent outbursts continuously disrupt her piano privileges, Traude heroically defends Jenny in meetings with the hard-edged warden, Mr. Meyerbeer (Stefan Kurt). The crux of the story lies in the friendship forged between these women through Traude?s determination to heal her young prodigy. Through flashback, the viewer learns what male violence was inflicted upon each lady. Four Minutes, subtitled from German, is a bit humorless, and one doesn?t glimpse even a slight smile on any character?s face until fifty minutes of film have rolled. Jenny?s outbursts at the piano as well, such as when she plays handcuffed to defy Meyerbeer, are overwrought. Still, the lack of sentimentality inherent to each character lends a wry realism to the intelligent script, such as when Ms. Krueger tells Jenny to stop playing "negro music," exposing her antiquated, uptight musical taste. Four Minutes succeeds at illustrating a relationship in which two women cut from different cloth share commonalities that assume a female essence, though at their core they crave a universal desire for freedom. --Trinie Dalton
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| Customer Reviews:
 Strong movie but..... November 30, 2008
Yes, the storyline is compelling, the music score is beautiful, and the set is suitable. However, it is not a well-done movie. It seems all the characters in the movie are obsessed with Jenny for one reason or anothert, but Jenny manifests extreme violence towards others and is always very angry(those who are obsessed include the piano teacher, the jailers, psychiatrist, the journalist from der spiegel no less, the father, the fellow inmates, etc.). At no time in the movie one feels sympathetic to Jenny, and one would care less about her piano talent when she beats up her way including almost killing a very nice prison guard who was pleading with the teacher to accept her as a pupil. And then when the teacher does take jenny and devotes herself to helping her, the teacher only gets snarls and animosity from jenny, and at one point Jenny violently assaults the teacher and hits her on the forehead head.. Oh this murderous Jenny who has a talent for music!! There is something missing in this movie that the teacher's focus was only on the music talent of Jenny and she would never engage Jenny beyond that point. Towards the end of the movie, the teacher speaks to jenny with authority to get her to participate in the competition. But we are not convinced why such a stubborn, hard-headed, very angry, violent girl suddenly changes her mind and agrees to participate. Why waste 120 minutes just to get to the point where jenny accepts and changes in a jiffy? And why? because the piano teacher spoke to her nicely but firmly about her future.
The concert at the end where Jenny is applauded in the deutsche opera haus is well-acted and deserves stars. However, I did not like this movie.
 A riveting story, superbly performed October 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Traude Kruger taught piano at a women's prison for more than sixty years. But her inmate Jenny, a convicted killer with a history of beating people for simple amusement, is unique. Once a great musical talent she could be trained to participate in and wine a prestigious piano contest -- despite her prison sentence. Traude's problem is how to inspire Jenny to act out with her music rather than her fists. "Four Minutes" is a riveting story, superbly performed, and the conclusion is truly memorable. The German with subtitles DVD format is enhanced with such bonus features as the Theatrical Trailer, a Widescreen Presentation, Dolby 2.0 Audio sound. Total Running Time: 112 minutes; full color.
Super story September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a masterly film! What a shock! The viewer is taken to trippes at heart and shaken in all directions. This film is exceptional. To let be yourself more engrossed by such a film would probably be too much for the nerves, both the intensity is violent, acute, sharp.
How to succeed in giving birth to a prison friendship between two women who have nothing in common except a true passion for the piano with a lot of patience, tenacity and tolerance is btilliantly shown in this film ? What a superb story!
The viewer is not indemn from such a projection. The final "four minutes" of the film is dazzling.
It is a great film issued by the German cinema that never ceases to surprise us with happiness ( "Good-bye Lenin!" Good Bye, Lenin!, "The Lives of Others" The Lives of Others).
Stunning film making! August 12, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I saw this at a film festival and it is amazing! This film is about a young woman prisoner who has very real talent as a pianist. The elderly lady who teaches piano to inmates at the prison recognizes her talent and wants to enter her in a prestigious competition, but must break through the young woman's anger and defensiveness to get her even interested in going to the competition. Along the way, both individuals slowly reveal more of themselves and their lives to each other and we get more insight into what makes them tick. Added to these award-winning performances is the truly amazing ending of the film -- the last four minutes -- that leaves you absolutely blown away! What can I say... you must see this.
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