4

Four seasons. Four continents. Four brilliant musicians. One extraordinary journey.

Filmed in four continents, 4 charts an extraordinary journey through the four seasons, from the intensely beautiful cherry blossoms of Spring in Japan, through a fierce Australian Summer; from the captivating energy of Autumn in New York, into the bitter cold and human warmth of a Finnish Winter.

Four brilliant violinists are our guides, their words and inspired performances of Vivaldi’s timeless masterpiece driving the film forward.

4 celebrates how the seasons shape who we are, the importance of homeland and the eternal power of music.

FOR 4 DVD ENQUIRIES, EMAIL TIM

DOCUMENTARY, 88 MINS, 2007

DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, CONCEPT · Tim Slade 

FUNDING · Film Finance Corporation Australia,  ITVS, NSW Film and Television Office, SBS Independent, NHK, YLE Teema, ESEK/LUSES.  

SCREENINGS · Official Selection Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival, many other festivals and broadcasts. 

AWARDS · Gold Plaque, Chicago HUGO Television Awards; nominated for two AFI awards, an International Documentary Association Award, Banff World Television Festival Award.

TEAM · PRODUCER: Joanna Buggy. DP: Pieter de Vries ACS. EDITOR: Lindi Harrison ACE.

**** (four out of five stars) “a seamless whole, rich in meaning and emotional resonance. It’s been a long time since an Australian documentary has delighted me as much as this one…The musical excerpts are thrillingly performed…The only other film I know that has conveyed so vividly a sense of the joy of music making is From Mao to Mozart …‘4’ is, if anything, a richer experience…” Evan Williams, The Australian

**** (four out of five stars) “Popularity has not been good for Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, It’s so familiar that it’s close to being worn down into the consistency of Muzak. Or so I thought until I saw ‘4’ which brings it back to life by triumphantly turning its ubiquity into a virtue… an intricate melding of reminiscence, conversation and music…” Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald

**** (four out of five stars) “an exquisitely observed celebration of life’s cycles. Entirely inspirational.” Vicky Roach, Daily Telegraph

“Vibrant and ambitious. Rarely do the aural and visual elements of cinema come together as completely as they do in this sumptuous and very poignant film” Sydney Film Festival catalogue