Four Windows

Vier Fenster tells the story of a family in Berlin. Each member narrates in their own particular way, giving the audience a view into his or her life, a view through his or her own “window.” The result is a unique portrait of a family threatening to fall apart in its everyday search for life, love, affection and recognition; the inability to communicate, the rage and longing are too great. Yet at the end, the audience is still left with hope and the feeling that one is not alone.

“A filmic experiment about the everyday experiment we call life,” says writer-director and Munich film school student Christian Moris Mueller, “Vier Fenster doesn’t follow the classic film dramaturgy. Instead, it uses documentary styles and methods to emphasize authenticity, seeking innovative ways to give the viewer a new, unhindered and intense perspective on the events.”

In front of veteran DoP and former Fassbinder-colleague Jürgen Jürges’ camera are Margarita Broich (a member of the Berliner Ensemble theater group) and Thorsten Merten (Grill Point/Halbe Treppe) as the parents of Theresa Scholze (Der letzte Zeuge) and Frank Droese (alaska.de).

“I was attracted by Christian’s narrative style,” says producer Philipp Budweg. “The story is told four times, each time from a different perspective. Christian shows but doesn’t tell: the audience has to think. It’s daring to try something new. Each time it’s like a puzzle as the family becomes more familiar to us.”

“We needed a big city since the story is very concentrated and so much happens to the characters,” says Budweg. “It wouldn’t work in Munich. Christian knows Berlin and I have always wanted to work with Berlin pictures! I’ve met new people, made new contacts and discovered new possibilities. It’s worked wonderfully and I can imagine filming here again.”

Vier Fenster is Mueller’s directorial feature debut and the second feature by the Munich-based production company schlicht und ergreifend (which translates roughly as “simple and to the point”), their first film being the football fantasy comedy A Pass from the Back (Aus der Tiefe des Raumes, 2003) which won Budweg and his partner Johannes Schmid the Bavarian Film Award’s Young Producers’ Award 2005. The film was nominated for this year’s German Film Awards in the categories Best Costume (Steffi Bruhn) and Best Film Music (Gerd Baumann, Stefan Noelle and Alex Haas). –GermanFilms.de