FOUR MINUTES

VIER MINUTEN

Directed by Chris Kraus

MONDAY JANUARY 15 9PM CASTRO

This rapturous, inspirational film concerns two women, their lives shaped by violent pasts, who find comfort and love in each other’s company. They overcome the obstacles put in their way by society through classical music, but not before engaging in a chaotic yet chaste amour fou.

Tough young Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung, in a meteoric debut peformance) is serving time in a women’s prison. She meets her match in the elderly Traude (Monica Bleibtreu), a Prussian woman who has been teaching piano to the inmates since World War II. But Traude’s near-obsessive attachment to Jenny goes far beyond musical professionalism, becoming something much more fervid and intense. Everything hangs in the balance when the dramatic details of both Jenny and Traude’s pasts threaten to be revealed.

Director Chris Kraus’s script is packed with drama, thrills and explosive secrets, not to mention characters that clash with the force of a powder keg. From the barbarous environment of the prison - where not a soul can be trusted - to the glow of a refined concert hall, Jenny has only the four minutes of her performance to achieve redemption. - Dimitri Eipides

Co-presented by FRAMELINE

PURCHASE TICKET

Bay Area Premiere

Country
Germany
Year
2006
Run Time
35mm, 108 min, color
German with
English subtitles
Cast
Monica Bleibtreu
Hannah Herzsprung
Sven Pippig
Richy Müller
Vadim Glowna
Jasmin Tabatabai
Camera
Judith Kaufmann
Screenwriter
Chris Kraus
Printsource
Wolfe Releasing
Email
orlyravid@mac.com
Awards
Shanghai 2006:
Best Film.
Reykjavik 2006:
Best Film.

Director

Chris Kraus
was born in Göttingen, Germany. He worked as a journalist and illustrator before attending the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin, where he now lectures. His writing credits include THE EINSTEIN OF SEX (1999), SHATTERED GLASS (2002), which was also his directorial debut, and C(R)OOK (2004). FOUR MINUTES (2006) is his most recent film as writer/director.