It's your choice - sign on at the LSE for
this course, or just go to BBC i-player and download
this. A drama about 'reconciliation' in Northern Ireland - and about how the media spins such processes - that was so good even James Nesbitt couldn't ruin it.
Hi Charlie,
ReplyDeleteI also thought Jimmy Nesbitt was great in this but then again I quite like him anyway. His handle-bar moustache in Murphy's Law was fantastic and should have won some sort of TV award on its own.
Five Minutes of Heaven was interesting for its rather jaundiced view of the media's treatment of 'peace and reconciliation', all emotional journeys with predetermined destinations. The film seem to be inspired by Facing the Truth, a BBC production where Desmond Tutu brought together the victims' families and combatants in the search of truth and reconciliation. It was excruciating to watch at times; contrived and melodramatic. It was 'confessional style' TV at its absolute worst.
Rab,
ReplyDeleteTwo incidental bits of info which might interest you.
Mrs.Charlie did that LSE course on political reconciliation I linked too as part of her MA in Human Rights. She wrote her thesis on child soldiers in Africa, comparing potential methods for healing the wounds - essentially when Truth and Reconciliation Panel might or might not work. She has a similarity low opinion of the Tutu programmes for exactly the same reasons
A friend of ours at the BBC went to the press launch of the programme, where it was revealed that the writers and Director had worked very closely with two men in analogous positions to the main protagonists and who have even co-sponsored various reconciliation type initiatives in the North. But here's the rub - the two have never met each other, unlike in the drama. They just advised on how they thought people might react in certain circumstances. I'm sure the Tutu programmes must have been in their minds(and sticking in their throats).
You're right I was a bit harsh on Nesbitt- but I struggle to forgive him those bloody Yellow Pages adverts...