Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)

The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writer:

Guy Hibbert (screenplay)

Stars:

Mark Ryder, James Nesbitt, Liam Neeson

8 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Ryder	...	Young Alistair: 1975 (as Mark Davison)
Diarmuid Noyes	...	Andy: 1975
Niamh Cusack	...	Alistair's Mum: 1975
Mathew McElhinney	...	Stuart: 1975
Conor MacNeill	...	Dave: 1975
Paul Garrett	...	Alistair's Dad: 1975
Kevin O'Neill	...	Young Joe: 1975
Gerard Jordan	...	Jim: 1975
Paula McFetridge	...	Joe's Mum: 1975
Gerry Doherty	...	Joe's Dad: 1975
Luke O'Reilly	...	Brother Dan: 1975
Luke McEvoy	...	Brother John: 1975
Aoibheann Biddle	...	Sister #1: 1975
Ruth Matthewson	...	Sister #2: 1975
Carol Moore	...	Susan: 1975

Storyline

In February, 1975, in Northern Ireland, seventeen year-old UVF member Alistair Little kills the catholic Jimmy Griffin in his house in Lurgan in front of his younger brother Joe Griffin. Alistair is arrested and imprisoned for twelve years while Joe is blamed by his mother for not saving his brother. Thirty-three years later, a TV promotes the meeting of Alistair and Joe in a house in River Finn, expecting the truth and the reconciliation of the murderer and the victim who actually seeks five minutes of heaven.

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Plot Keywords:

northern ireland | ireland | reconciliation | chauffeur | time in title | 

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Taglines:

To face the future, they must face the past.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [au] Official site [ie]

Country:

UK Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 2009 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Cinco minutos de gloria

Filming Locations:

Ballybeen, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,364 (USA) (21 August 2009)

Gross:

$13,217 (USA) (28 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Big Fish Films, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The little boy he delivers the note from Liam Neeson's character was named "Liam."

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Goofs

Little's photograph of Griffin's family changes between shots. In some scenes it has a border and in others it doesn't.

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Quotes

Alistair Little: [Talking to tv camera] For me to talk about the man I have become, you need to know about the man I was. I was fourteen when I joined the tartan gangs and I was fifteen when I joined the UVF. At that time, don't forget, there were riots on the streets every week; petrol bombs everyday, and that was just in our town. When you got home and switched on the TV, you could see what was happening in every other town as well, and it was like we were under siege. Fathers and brothers and friends were ...

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

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Soundtracks

"Holy Pictures"
Written and Performed by David Holmes
Courtesy of Mercury Records Limited
Under license from Universal Music Operations
Published by Universal/Island Music Limited

User Reviews

The film that could help to end terrorism

Tonight I saw one of the best films I've seen in years. You might have to search for this one to find it, because it's probably not going to show up in your local multiplex, but if you can find it, you're in for a moving experience.

"Five Minutes Of Heaven" won the Directing award for Oliver Hirschbiegel and the World Cinema Screen writing Award for Guy Hibbert at the most recent Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. That, and the fact that Liam Neeson is in it, were the reasons I decided to watch it. I didn't even know what it was about.

It's about violence, and how violence shatters lives, and about how the shattering does not stop when the violence stops. Set in Northern Ireland, it is nothing more, nor less, than the meeting, 25 years later, between the man (Neeson) who in his youth murdered a Catholic for nothing more than being Catholic, and the murdered man's brother (portrayed so powerfully as to bring the audience I saw it with to tears more than once by James Nesbitt). As a child, he watched his brother murdered, and then was blamed by his own mother for killing him because he did nothing to stop it. He was nine.

Both men are shattered, 25 years later. One is seeking redemption and resolution by meeting the brother of the man he killed, and the other is seeking only revenge. I cannot spoil the film for anyone by saying more. All I can say is that this film would bring the Dalai Lama to tears, or Yasser Arafat. It's that powerful, and that well done.

This is the film that young people whose culture is pushing them into terrorism should be shown, before it's too late for them. And this is the film that those who feel no compassion for the terrorists should be shown, before it's too late for them, too.