It may sound hard to believe, but Four Minus Three (Vier Minus Drei), the new feature from Austrian filmmaker Adrian Goiginger (The Best of All Worlds, The Fox), is based on a true story full of the tears and the smiles of a clown.
Valerie Pachner (The Stories, Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden, A Hidden Life) stars in the movie, adapted by Senad Halilbašić from the bestselling book of the same name by Barbara Pachl-Eberhart, in which she shares how she overcame the death of her husband and two kids in a tragic car accident.
Four Minus Three world premieres in the Panorama program of the Berlin International Film Festival. The story, which is told in time jumps, follows Barbara. She and her partner Heli (Robert Stadlober) are professional clowns, living an alternative life with their two kids, until the car accident changes everything. Barbara’s belief in humor, hope, and humanity is put to the test. Stefanie Reinsperger, Hanno Koffler, and Ronald Zehrfeld also feature in the cast.
Goiginger directed the film and produced it with Peter Wildling, Gerrit Klein, Martin Pfeil, and David Stöllinger. Beta Cinema is handling world sales on the movie, produced by 2010 Entertainment in Austria and Giganten Film in Germany. Four Minus Three will be distributed in Germany by Alamode Film and in Austria by Polyfilm
Goiginger first read a synopsis for Four Minus Three when his second child had just been born, feeling the movie would be “too intense for me.” But after reading a first draft of the screenplay, “I realized that it was actually a film about hope and how you can overcome such tragedies.”
THR talked to Goiginger about bringing to the screen a story that will make audiences cry, but also find hope, and what he learned about the art of clowning.
How involved was Barbara Pachl-Eberhart in the film and its production?
She was part of the whole development process, so she would read the script and then give notes. She is very smart and understood that we have to make our own artistic piece, and so we changed some things from real life and also from the book. But she was totally fine with that. It was important for her who would portray her. Luckily for all of us, she also fell in love with Valerie Pachner very early on.
She visited the set on the very first day of shooting. And it was very important for me that she’d be happy with it, because it’s her story. Meeting her in real life was a big motivation for me to make this film. What really touched me from the very beginning is that there is a real happy ending to this tragic story.
What was key to getting the tone and the emotional journey right?
We put a lot of thought into when the accident should happen in the film. There was one draft where it was at the midpoint, then we had one draft where it was pretty late in the film. But in editing, we finally saw where the right place for this scene was. So this film really got made three times, you could say: writing, shooting and editing.
Were there any films you had seen that affected you in your work on Four Minus Three?
One very influential film for us was The Broken Circle Breakdown [by Felix van Groeningen]. It has a very similar structure, also in how it is structured [across] different timelines.
Tell me about the portrayal of clowning, which some may see as an unexpected element…
Before I made this film, I was not very interested in clowning. I just had in mind either the killer clowns or the unfunny circus clowns. But then I did a lot of reading and research, and I got to know the whole philosophy that lies behind it. We really wanted to put that in the movie, so that it has funny [elements], but also because the art of clowning helps Barbara in her journey to fight this tragedy.
Did you guys have any clowns or experts as advisors?
Yes, we did. I also went on the trip with the Red Noses [Clowndoctors] in the hospital, which is also part of Barbara’s life and of the film. That was so, so, so touching, going to a real hospital with the clowns. I was in the background and saw them work with children. They gave me a lot of inspiration.
We also had a French clown as a consultant, Jean Paul Ledun, who knew the real Heli before he died. It was very heavy, but also very beautiful, that he could teach Robert Stadlober, who plays Heli, how his clown was. And he helped us with staging and creating these clown sequences.
How emotional and difficult was the shoot for the whole cast and crew?
It was an incredibly demanding, emotional shoot for everyone, both in front of and behind the camera.
I’ve rarely seen anyone commit to a role the way Valerie Pachner does: 100 percent emotionally invested in every take, regardless of the consequences. Robert Stadlober also brought so much personality, edge and humor to his character.”
How did you cast Valerie Pachner?
I saw her in A Hidden Life by Terrence Malick, and I was fascinated by her performance. She doesn’t talk a lot in that film, but she has this presence and this whole aura. I met her at the Berlinale six years ago and pitched her. There wasn’t even a script back then, but I pitched her this idea. And she said, yeah, okay, like you often do when you just met someone. But this was really the beginning of this very rewarding relationship. She really carries the movie.
How did you think about the balance the film needs between sadness, worry, despair and smiles?
That was the challenge from the beginning, because nobody wants to watch someone cry for 120 minutes – not even in Europe.
The balance is also what clowning is. You can cry, and you can laugh at the same time. Charlie Chaplin and his clown character “The Tramp” taught me that. So I tried to always place a funny and warm scene after a tragic one. That’s also why I chose the structure. There are a lot of warm, gloomy, nice memories in the past. The falling in love, the wedding, the birth of the child. You can kind of breathe out and prepare for the next hard scene in the present. And also, you really get to know this couple.
There is one big marital dispute in the film. This fighting scene is the most important one for the display of their relationship, because it makes it real. Couples aren’t always nice to each other; there is fighting sometimes. I tried to put a lot of slices of life and a lot of different angles in this relationship.
I read in your director’s statement that you see this story as a sign that undying love does exist.
Yeah, because the real Barbara still has a connection to her deceased family. It sounds esoteric and maybe a little bit weird. But in her book, she writes about it. She just feels Heli and her children. And there is a scene in the film where she really feels the energy and spirit of her husband. Barbara said recently that she’s so happy that now, with this film and the premiere at the Berlinale, her deceased husband Heli finally gets the big stage that he always wanted. I was very touched by that.
Do you know what you’re doing next?
There are a couple of projects I’m working on right now. There’s actually one international project that would be my first English-language film. I’m putting it together right now with the producers, but I think that’s as far as I’m allowed to tell you. But that’s a big dream for me to, hopefully, in the near future, make my first English-speaking film.
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