Four Minutes (German 2007 original title “Vier Minuten”)

This movie stole the show for me. The best film of the fest.

“Brilliant Relationship Drama and 4 minutes you will not forget.”

Story: (Yahoo Movies had such a great synopses, why reinvent the wheel)

Schubert, Mozart, Chopin and a bunch of killers. That’s life for 80-year-old piano teacher Traude Krueger. The old lady has been teaching music at the women’s prison for ages. But she has never met an inmate like Jenny: a killer who beats everything around her to a pulp just to amuse herself. However, she used to be a great talent. A piano prodigy even. And beneath her fierce facade, she still is. With Traude’s help, she could manage to win a prestigious piano contest. But a contest is no challenge to those who want their lives to stand still.

Review: Powerful, evocative, and mesmerizing film.   I don’t know where they found this actress/artist who plays Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung) but she is phenomenal.   If she wasn’t actually playing the piano, she did an absolutely award winning performance of someone playing.   Highly complicated maneuvers and passion.     Monica Bleibtreu is also amazing as an almost monastic spinster of a piano teacher with a huge secret.    The movie is gripping from the start and ends with spectacular performance that I challenge you to forget.

Film:+++++ 5/5 - outstanding cinema
Movie: +++++ 5/5 - outstanding drama and performances