Four Minutes

Despite the dubious marketing which seems to suggest Four Minutes is some sort of sexy murder flick, it turns out the film is a subtle but powerful exploration of the growing relationship between Traude, an elderly and intolerant piano teacher in a women's prison, and Jenny, erstwhile child prodigy pianist, incarcerated for a murder she may or may not have committed. The lesbian angle – the flashbacks to Traude's greatest love, and the unconfirmed possibility that she is in love with Jenny – is in fact the weakest part of the film. But it pulls no punches when it comes to the bleak reality of life inside a women's prison. The intense and nuanced performances by Monica Bleibtreu and Hannah Herzsprung as the two leads save it from becoming so depressing as to be unwatchable, and the use of music to maintain or relieve the tension in the film is nothing less than masterful. [Jessica Gregson]