Oliver Hirschbiegel is slowly carving himself a niche as a political filmmaker. After giving Nazism a human face in Der Untergang, he tackles the IRA and the difficulties of reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants.
Liam Neeson plays Alistair Little, former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force. As a young man he killed a Catholic and become famous amongst his people, but also haunted by the image of the victim's brother looking at him as he made his kill.
James Nesbitt plays Joe Griffen, the brother of the victim, who grows up tormented because his mother blamed him for not having done anything to save his brother.
Decades after the fact, these two men are invited to meet in a TV show to discuss truth and reconciliation. Little goes to exorcise his ghosts; Griffen goes to kill him and get his 'five minutes of heaven'.
For a ninety-minute movie, there are a lot of ideas in this movie. Besides raising questions like whether it's possible for enemies to come together, it also displays the media exploitation of grief and misery, and how society can be kinder to a criminal who shows regret than to a victim that lives all his life with his feelings bottled up.
However the movie is no masterpiece. In spite of the stellar performances by the leading men, the resolution of their life-long conflict is ridiculously (perhaps insultingly) done through a brawl. Also not enough time is given to develop their lives: we see so little of who and what they are in their day to day existence.
Nevertheless the movie has many strong parts, especially the first sequence set in 1975, as see the slow build-up of the murder. It's fascinating to watch all four killers starting the day and preparing themselves, as they go through fear and excitement. Many of these young men wanted to kill someone just to prove they were men, and one can't help feeling sorry for their illusions. Furthermore, the victims were people they knew and spoke to, making the whole conflict ridiculous. It's disturbing how people can be killed for so little.
As a reconstruction of the way life was in Ireland in the '70s, this is a fine movie. As an exploration of reconciliation, it was a noble but failed attempt. This should not keep people from watching it.
Liam Neeson plays Alistair Little, former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force. As a young man he killed a Catholic and become famous amongst his people, but also haunted by the image of the victim's brother looking at him as he made his kill.
James Nesbitt plays Joe Griffen, the brother of the victim, who grows up tormented because his mother blamed him for not having done anything to save his brother.
Decades after the fact, these two men are invited to meet in a TV show to discuss truth and reconciliation. Little goes to exorcise his ghosts; Griffen goes to kill him and get his 'five minutes of heaven'.
For a ninety-minute movie, there are a lot of ideas in this movie. Besides raising questions like whether it's possible for enemies to come together, it also displays the media exploitation of grief and misery, and how society can be kinder to a criminal who shows regret than to a victim that lives all his life with his feelings bottled up.
However the movie is no masterpiece. In spite of the stellar performances by the leading men, the resolution of their life-long conflict is ridiculously (perhaps insultingly) done through a brawl. Also not enough time is given to develop their lives: we see so little of who and what they are in their day to day existence.
Nevertheless the movie has many strong parts, especially the first sequence set in 1975, as see the slow build-up of the murder. It's fascinating to watch all four killers starting the day and preparing themselves, as they go through fear and excitement. Many of these young men wanted to kill someone just to prove they were men, and one can't help feeling sorry for their illusions. Furthermore, the victims were people they knew and spoke to, making the whole conflict ridiculous. It's disturbing how people can be killed for so little.
As a reconstruction of the way life was in Ireland in the '70s, this is a fine movie. As an exploration of reconciliation, it was a noble but failed attempt. This should not keep people from watching it.