Five Minutes of Heaven
| Five Minutes of Heaven | |
|---|---|
Promotional film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Oliver Hirschbiegel |
| Produced by | Eoin O'Callaghan Stephen Wright |
| Written by | Guy Hibbert |
| Starring | |
| Music by | David Holmes |
| Cinematography | Ruairi O'Brien |
| Edited by | Hans Funck |
|
Production
company |
Big Fish Films
Element Pictures Ruby Films |
| Distributed by |
BBC Television (United Kingdom) IFC Films (United States) Pathé (worldwide) |
|
Release date
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19 January 2009 (25th Sundance Film Festival) 21 August 2009 (U.S., limited) |
|
Running time
|
90 minutes |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $87,906 |
Five Minutes of Heaven is a British and Irish film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a script by Guy Hibbert. The film was premiered on 19 January 2009 at the 25th Sundance Film Festival where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award for Oliver Hirschbiegel, and the World Cinema Screenwriting Award for Guy Hibbert. As a television film it was broadcast on BBC Two on 5 April 2009, and also had an international feature film release.
The first part reconstructs the historical killing of 19-year-old Jim Griffin by 17-year-old Alistair Little in 1975, and the second part depicts a fictional meeting between Little and Griffin's brother Joe 33 years later.
In Lurgan, Northern Ireland, during 1975 and the Northern Irish Troubles, the Irish Republican Army are targeting British loyalists and the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force are exacting revenge on Catholics they claim are militant republicans. Alistair Little, 17, is the leader of a UVF cell, eager to let blood. He and his gang are given the go-ahead to kill a young Catholic man, James Griffin, as a reprisal and a warning to others. When they kill Griffin, his 8-year old little brother Joe watches in horror. Little is arrested and sentenced to prison for 12 years.
Thirty-three years after the murder, Little and Griffin have been set up to meet on camera by a reconciliation project. Little has served his sentence and peace has been agreed to in Northern Ireland, but Joe Griffin is not coming on the programme for a handshake. He is carrying a knife and intends to murder his brother’s killer during the meeting. However, just before he is to go on camera, he becomes extremely agitated and demands that the cameras be removed. When the producers try to calm him, he leaves, and the two men don't meet.
Little offers to meet Griffin, and Griffin accepts. As he reaches for the knife, his wife tries to stop him, and he pushes her to the floor. Griffin asks Little to meet him at Griffin's old house, where Little murdered his brother, now abandoned and boarded up. Griffin, full of hate and wanting vengeance, attacks Little from behind and attempts to stab him. They fight and fall through a second story window and fall to the street outside. Both are hurt. Little tells Griffin that he's leaving for Belfast. He explains why he killed Griffin's brother. He tells Griffin to "get rid of me", to tell his family that he's killed Little and to live his life for them, not for vengeance against Little.
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