Five Minutes of Heaven is a British film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt. A powerful film, Five Minutes of Heaven recounts the unlikely meeting of 2 men, one loyalist, the other republican, the first of whom is said to have coldly murdered the brother of the second before his very eyes… 33 years after the tragedy, the 2 men agree to meet on a TV show to symbolize reconciliation in Northern Ireland…
A scene from Five Minutes of Heaven
The story begins in Northern Ireland in the seventies, at a time when the Northern Irish conflict is getting worse and worse… Little Alistair, then aged 17, is part of the UVF… His mission is to murder a Catholic, the eldest member of the Griffin family, in cold blood… To achieve his goal, he goes hooded into the Griffin family’s neighborhood, points his gun at his target and coldly shoots the young man… All this under the traumatized eyes of Joe Griffin, the victim’s grand-brother, who was playing soccer outside, against a wall of the house… Alistair stares longingly at the petrified intruder, then decides to leave…
33 years later, Joe Griffin and Little Alistair agree to meet in front of the cameras to symbolize reconciliation in Northern Ireland, where the Peace Process is still in its infancy… Little Alistair has obviously served 12 years in prison for his past murder, while Joe Griffin is a broken man, haunted by the tragedy he experienced as a child.
Both are apprehensive about their meeting: what will come of it? Should Joe Griffin murder his brother’s killer? Or should he forgive him?
Although the film went rather unnoticed on its release, Five Minutes of Heaven has the merit of being a courageous film… What could be more ambitious than tackling a theme such as the meeting of 2 men, one a victim, the other a murderer, to illustrate the complex situation in Northern Ireland?
Oliver Hirschbiegel thus seems to believe that a confrontation between republicans and loyalists could enable Northern Ireland to untangle itself from its past, move beyond vengeful feelings and give way to forgiveness in favor of the Peace Process currently underway…
The story is magnificently illustrated by the actors’ outstanding performances: Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt are poignant and touching, and both play characters of great realism, both shattered by a past from which they cannot free themselves…
Joe Griffin’s character sometimes verges on schizophrenia, so shaken has he been by his brother’s murder… Halfway between hysteria and anguish, the latter is terrorized by the idea of meeting his brother’s killer, and seems torn between the desire to renew the dialogue and the irrepressible urge to take revenge by killing him. As for Little Alistair, he also seems haunted by his gesture… The latter obviously paid for his crime with 12 years in prison, and has never stopped fighting to make people aware of his story, to prevent them from descending into violence. Liam Neeson takes on the role of a repentant murderer, haunted by his deed and determined to make amends by any means necessary… That’s why he’s desperate to meet Joe Griffin, so he can finally leave behind the tragedy for which he’s responsible.
In the end, the encounter is both poignant and violent… The victim longs for revenge, while the murderer wants to be forgiven… Little dialogue will emerge from their confrontation, but it will enable them to close a painful chapter in their lives…
The only hitch, however, is that the dubbing of the film’s French version is extremely poor, totally undermining the realism of the characters… (especially that of Joe Griffin, whose hysterical, high-pitched voice doesn’t fit the character at all. (Especially that of Joe Griffin, whose hysterical, high-pitched voice doesn’t match his character at all). We therefore advise you to watch it in V.O. with subtitles, to savour it…
3.40/5 (5 votes)
