The idea behind the movie (an encounter between two women, who both love music, but have had terrible traumas) is good, even if a bit used. But the screenplay fails to accomplish the promise set forth in the first half of the movie. The turning point is when the young pianist recounts her sojourn in the hospital in order to give birth to her son. The scene marks the first opening between the two women: from that moment on, a different, lighter touch would have been better (and could have been expected), but we are left with the same dull atmosphere. Given the sheer emotional difficulty of the story, a change of pace could have given the viewer the time to absorb the story. But the authors do not relent, so that some parts (for instance, the repeated recollections of the past in Nazi Germany) do not really support the story, but compound horror (the present) with horror (the past)... All in all, an interesting film, but with big holes in a rather unbalanced screenplay.
Review of Four Minutes
