Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Reno Rangan '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'.8/10

kino1969 This movie truly grew on me. Not only do I enjoy foreign movies, but movies set (this one partially) in Nazi Germany, with a dose of lesbianism (nothing graphic), humor, and with well- developed characters with inner turmoil make this a true "must see" work!There are three stories, all centered around an elderly piano teacher: 1) She works in a women's detention center, teaching classic piano playing to the inmates, 2) a young "prodigy" shows-up and the teacher takes to her skills, remembers her lost love through her), and attempts to put her in a competition, and 3) a prison guard, who sees the old woman as a sort of protégé, is bitter about his "replacement" and the fact that he is humiliated by the girl having kicked his behind! What the filmmakers do best in the narrative is develop their characters, with pathos and dramatic tension as well as humor and reality. It is superb storytelling, and many in Hollywood should take heed! This is why most of the great movies of the past decade or so have been those made abroad! The audience is switched from the past (Nazi era) to the present. Love lost in the past is love gained in the present (although physical love is out of the question). The audience understands each character and their motivations for their behavior. You truly identify with these characters and their sufferings.I don't want to give away the movie's plot, so I will stop here.I consider the movie a near-masterpiece, and I can't give it enough accolades. SUPERB PERFORMANCES ALL AROUND, from behind the camera to in front of it!!!This is what "Aimee and Jaguar" should have been (see that review)!9 of 10. ------- E.

wilhelm-22 The premise of this movie is great (if not super original), and the acting is outstanding. But as a whole this movie is a bit of a disappointment. I think my main problem with the film is the editing. The editor seems restless with the slow pace of the scenes and tries to speed things up by hard cutting. But this just leads to the fact that each scene ends at the very point where it starts getting interesting. The jumping back and forth between the subplot (the piano teachers love story in the past) and the main plot (the same teacher teaching a young criminal to play) is often confusing and creates distance to the viewer. The subplot also doesn't really tie in to the main plot and should probably have been left out altogether. The final scene where the girl triumphantly plays the piano would have been so much more efficient and touching if shot in just one long take, now the editor tries to compete with the girl's virtuous skills and again, it creates distance and makes the whole sequence feel fake and pompous. I still recommend this film because of the great actors and a nice story.

Robert_Woodward 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.