Five Minutes of Heaven

Five Minutes of Heaven

90 Minutes

With Downfall, Oliver Hirschbiegel accomplished the impossible by humanizing the devil himself, Adolf Hitler. The film was buoyed by a performance for the ages from Bruno Ganz which showed that if nothing else Hirschbeigel knows how to direct actors. It did not take long for Hollywood to come calling. Hirschbiegel answered the call with The Invasion, a huge misfire starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. In place of the subtle character details and nuances of Downfall was a tired retread of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. With Five Minutes of Heaven, Hirschbiegel celebrates a return to form.

The film opens in 1975 in Northern Ireland. Alistair Little, an awkward 17-year-old Protestant intent on proving himself to the Ulster Volunteer Force, agrees to kill a Catholic man he has never met before. After he carries out the murder, he comes face to face with a young boy who has witnessed everything. He lets him go, not knowing that the boy is the victim’s brother, Joe Griffen. Thirty years later, Little (Liam Neeson) and Griffen (James Nesbitt) have agreed to meet for the first time since that fateful incident before a television crew at remote country house. After spending 12 years in prison, Little has reformed and has become an expert in conflict resolution. Griffen, on the other hand, has never recovered. With the destruction of his family still haunting him, he has no plans for reconciliation or healing. He wants revenge in the form of a concealed knife, his “five minutes of heaven.”

The rest of the film is built around the eventual confrontation of these two characters. Suffice it to say, the show does not go according to plan. As in real life, people do not react the way one expects them to. It is as simple as that, a character study about two people at opposite ends of a traumatic event. There are no political soapboxes about the Irish Republican Army or sensationalized scenes of violence. With what is essentially a two character chamber drama, it is up to Neeson and Nesbitt to carry the film with their performances. And they do, Neeson in particular. Nesbitt’s manic energy borders on caricature, but as the film progresses, he grows more and more vulnerable. Griffen is just a regular guy pushed to the edge. Neeson balances Nesbitt with a much-needed gravitas which anchors the film. Neeson’s sad, world weary eyes and tired demeanor perfectly suggest a life filled with regret.

The screenplay was written by playwright Guy Hibbert whose story evolved over three years of conversations with the real Griffen and Little. In reality, Griffen had refused to appear with Little for a documentary, vowing to kill him. And at times, the fictional meeting does feel forced. But Hibbert has gone through such painstaking detail and honesty, that it is hard to imagine the characters reacting any differently than they do in the film. More importantly, he has captured the raw emotion of both men.

If there is one complaint, Hirschbeigel tries too hard to heighten the suspense at times. Some scenes are directed as if they were from a suspense thriller rather than a drama. That is a minor complaint though. It is to Hirschbeigel’s credit that the film does not lapse into histrionics or sentimentality. Instead the frame is unflinchingly fixed on each man’s pain. The focus here is on the lasting damage of the violence, and how, if unchecked, it can continue to fester for decades to come.

by James Shelledy