Four Windows

What do we really know about the people we call family? What kinds of feelings, gestures and love affairs characterise the smallest unit of society? What might really be going on behind doors at the neighbouring family’s abode? These are the questions that preoccupy director Christian Moris Müller in his film.

The four windows of the title refer to four chapters, each devoted to one of four individuals involved in a furtive search for happiness. The son meets a stranger who wants to kiss him. The father kisses his wife and thinks of his daughter. The daughter receives a kiss from the mother that’s like a slap in the face. The mother provokes a stranger’s kiss and hopes that her husband will lick her wounds. And yet, they all share a desire to belong and so they continue to cling to each other. But the price for their security is endless reticence.

Christian Moris Müller approaches his characters with great care and without prejudice. In place of lengthy dialogue he allows their faces to do the talking. Long, unedited takes provide the actors with plenty of time and space to develop their characters.

Christian Moris Müller: "I don’t like it when there are too many cuts. I find it very distracting and it ruins the moment. I wanted to give my four characters sufficient space to really take shape in the minds of the audience." Müller’s technique works, due in no small part to the camerawork provided by cinematographer Jürgen Jürges, who has worked with directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders and Michael Haneke.

Source: 56. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (catalogue)