Four Minutes

Last night I was watching In Cold Blood, a 1967 film directed by Richard Brooks and based on the "non-fiction novel" by Truman Capote. The film tells the story of the brutal murder of a Kansas farmer and his family, during a failed robbery by crooks Perry Smith (played by Robert Blake) and Richard Hickock (Scott Wilson), and the subsequent investigation into the murderers as Smith and Hickock go on the run through the USA and Mexico. The film is very stylishly shot, in black-and-white, on location where the actual events took place, including the house where the murders took place, which gives it almost a documentary feel. The acting is very impressive, and Truman Capote, who was present during the filming and wrote an essay about it, remarked on how similar the actors were to their characters, and claimed that watching the film being made was altogether a very unnerving experience. Interestingly, Robert Blake had a part in one of the real Perry Smith's favourite films The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Today was a very quiet one at work. I had a couple of very difficult pieces to do, however it was unusually quiet day to the fact that the main complainer is on holiday for a week.

After work I headed up to the Filmhouse cinema to meet my friend Alice, from Australia. However I was late due to the buses being diverted due to extensive roadworks in the city centre. The reason for this is their putting in trams. The trams won't be running for another three years, but everyine is already sick to death of them. It was also pouring in rain, so i was drenched to the skin by the time I arrived, almost quarter of an hour late.

Anyway, we were in time for the film, which was a German film called Four Minutes, directed by Chris Kraus. The film tells the story of an elderly piano teacher (Monica Bleibtreu) who gives piano lessons in a women's prison, where she meets a very troubed young convict named Jenny (Hannah Herzsprung) who is a convicted murderer, and prone to bouts of violence and self-harm. However, she also has a phenomenal talent as a piano player, and as the teacher helps Jenny to prepare for a prestigious competition, she soon finds herself confronting some traumas from her own past. It was a very well-made film, and very well-acted. It really was a good film though and quite powerful.

After the film Alice and I had a drink and a chat for a couple of hours so that was nice. I haven't really seen her for a couple of months, so it was good to catch up.