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Five Minutes of Heaven
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Oliver Hirschbiegel
Produced by	Eoin O'Callaghan Stephen Wright
Written by	Guy Hibbert
Starring	Liam Neeson James Nesbitt Anamaria Marinca
Music by	David Holmes
Cinematography	Ruairi O'Brien
Editing by	Hans Funck
Studio	Big Fish Films Element Pictures Ruby Films
Distributed by	BBC Television (United Kingdom) IFC Films (United States) Pathé (worldwide)
Release date(s)	5 April 2009 (TV) 21 August 2009 (U.S., limited)
Original channel	BBC Two
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom/Ireland

Five Minutes of Heaven is a British/Irish television film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a script by Guy Hibbert. 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 Jim's brother Joe 33 years later.

The film won two awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It was broadcast on BBC Two on 5 April 2009, and has had an international theatrical release.

Plot

The first act depicts a reconstruction of the murder of 19-year-old Jim Griffin by 17-year-old Alistair Little (Mark Davison) on 29 October 1975. Jim's 11-year-old brother Joe witnesses the killing. Little goes to prison for 12 years.

The second act depicts an attempt by a television documentary crew to set up a meeting between Little (Liam Neeson) and Griffin (James Nesbitt) 33 years after the murder. Little is unaware that Griffin plans to avenge his brother's death by killing him. Griffin is volatile and anxious. He becomes emotional just before the meeting and demands that the cameras be removed, scuppering the project.

The third act features Little and Griffin discussing their pasts.

The last act is of Little agreeing to meet Griffin in the latter's old house. Griffin attempts to stab Little, jumping him from behind. Little tackles Griffin, and both fall through a window, ending up the lying together on the outside pavement. Little shows signs of life first and checks Griffin's pulse. The two are injured and Little tells Griffin that he is returning to Belfast. Little tells Griffin to 'get rid of me' and tell his family that he killed him off because he is 'nothing' and wants Griffin to live his life with his daughters.

Little is speaking metaphorically, and means for Griffin to kill Little off in his head, in so doing they can both move on. Griffin very shakily lights up a cigarette as Little pulls himself up against a wall and limps down the road. The following day, Griffin attends a group sharing. He shares to the group that he wants to be a good father for his daughters and he cries. In the end, he calls Little to tell him, "We're finished."

Cast

(In Order Of Appearance)

• Young Alistair - Mark Davison
• Andy - Diarmund Noyes
• Alistair's Mum - Niamh Cusack
• Stuart - Matthew McElhinney
• Dave - Conor MacNeill
• Alistair's Dad - Paul Garret
• Young Joe - Kevin O' Neill
• Jim - Gerard Jordan
• Joe's Mum - Paula McFetridge

2nd Part

• Joe - James Nesbitt
• Joe's Chauffeur - Barry McEvoy
• Alistair - Liam Neeson
• Alistair's Chauffeur - Richard Orr

Production

Five Minutes of Heaven was originally commissioned by BBC Four, as Hibbert did not want television executives to interfere with the script. BBC Four abandoned the project when they could not provide a bigger budget. To get more money for the film, independent production company Big Fish Films brought in other financial backers, including Northern Ireland Screen, and the film was eventually commissioned by Controller of BBC Two Roly Keating, and BBC Controller of Fiction Jane Tranter.^[1][2]

Filming was done on location in Belfast, Lurgan, Glenarm and Newtownards for four weeks from May to June 2008.^[2][3][4] Nesbitt met Griffin before filming began but Neeson decided to wait until after it had concluded before meeting Little; he said "I didn't want to see him before because I didn't want to be reminded of the physical differences between us and I didn't want to get that cluttered up in my head."^[4][5]

Release

Five Minutes of Heaven premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on 19 January 2009. It won in the World Cinema Directed Award: Dramatic, and World Cinema Screenwriting Award categories.^[6] It received its Irish premiere at the 2009 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival on 21 February 2009.^[5] A screening was given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London on 23 March 2009. It was followed by a question-and-answer session with Hirschbiegel, Hibbert and Nesbitt.^[7] It was broadcast on BBC Two in England, Scotland and Wales on 5 April 2009 and on BBC One Northern Ireland on 13 April.^[8] Pathé holds worldwide theatrical distribution rights.^[9]

IFC Films signed a deal to distribute the film in the United States from August 2009, theatrically, through its video on demand service, and exclusively through Blockbuster retailers.^[10] The film opened at the Angelika Film Center in New York on 21 August 2009.^[11] It took $5,200 in box office receipts on its first weekend.^[12]

Reception

Neeson and Nesbitt in January 2008

After Five Minutes of Heaven's Sundance screenings, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called it "very good at stating the obvious but fails to bring new insight to this age-old morality tale". He cited the scenes featuring Mark Davison (as the young Little) and Anamaria Marinca (as a television producer) as "the only time the movie sparks to life".^[13] Dennis Harvey for Variety was complimentary of Hibbert's screenplay and of Neeson's acting.^[9]

Padraic Geoghegan of RTÉ Entertainment criticized the lack of screen-time given to Griffin's family, and for not showing how Little came to be helping others like him in the present-day scenes. Geoghegan praised the flashback scenes, Hirschbeigel's direction, and Neeson and Nesbitt's acting.^[14] The Irish Times' Michael Dwyer rated the film four out of five stars. Of the acting, he wrote,

Nesbitt vividly portrays Griffin as a man still coiled with rage and horror by indelible memories of a living nightmare when he was a boy. And Neeson’s haunted features reveal the guilt and pain Little has carried since he committed his terrible crime.^[15]

Andrew Johnston for Culture Northern Ireland wrote,

Unlike some other Ulster-set pictures, Five Minutes of Heaven presents real people with real emotions, rather than political caricatures or slavish impersonations. There’s a slight sense that most of the budget went on securing Neeson, but the minimalist soundtrack, grotty colour scheme and amateurish fight scenes help underline the emptiness of the lead characters and the desolation of their predicament.^[16]

Awards

References

Further reading

• Sharrock, David (18 March 2009). "The ex-UVF man Alistair Little: 'I'd have got on a bus and killed everyone'". The Times (Times Newspapers).
• Staff (January 2009). "An interview with Guy Hibbert". UK Writer (Writers' Guild of Great Britain).

External links

Film portal

• Official website
• Five Minutes of Heaven at the Internet Movie Database