Project Detail

Cycle Of Violence

Synopsis

Kevin Miller is a young journalist who travels everywhere on his mountain bike; his 'cycle of violence' has been sent by his Belfast newspaper editor to work on its sister paper in the small country town of Crossmaheart. Jamie Milburn, his predecessor on the local paper, has disappeared, presumed dead. Arriving in the town, Miller finds that his new editor is doing little to find out what has happened to Jamie, who has now been missing for two weeks. The paper likes to sit on the fence and the editor tells Miller not to become involved. Shortly after his arrival, Miller meets Jamie's girlfriend, Marie and immediately the two of them are attracted to each other. She tells him that she believes that Jamie was killed because of a story he was working on. Despite warnings from his editor, he decides to carry out his own investigation.

With the help of police sergeant Craig, Miller unravels a web of intrigue going back over fifteen years, at the same time unlocking Marie's ghosts of the past. Undeterred by threats and physical violence, Miller pursues his investigation to the end. Finally justice is done and Miller and Marie, now in love, return to Belfast. The film, both a black comedy and a love story, was shot entirely on location in Northern Ireland, using Belfast and the towns of Banbridge, Dromore and Rathfriland to combine as the town of Crossmaheart.

Details

Year: 1998
Type of project: Features
Running time: 98 mins
Format: 35mm Kodak
Director: Henry Herbert
Producer: Alison Kerr
Director of Photography: Peter Butler
Principal cast: Gerald Rooney, Maria Lennon
Stephanie Mills Associate Screen Writer: Colin Bateman

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Lexington Films 44 Lexington Street London W1R 3LH Tel: 020 7434 1262 Fax: 020 7434 1284

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Kevin and Cassandra are a married couple who have lost their only daughter Hannah in a freak car accident. They both raised her differently. Kevin had been a traditional parent, Cassandra a permissive one. While Hannah had decided to exhibit her body and mind online, she cut adrift from her father and gravitates towards her mother. Her death drove a wedge between them. Their lounge becomes a battlefield where incendiary words and spiteful things are said. Their marriage is one where opposites no longer attract. Kevin is filled with loathing for his in-laws, his daughter’s boyfriend, himself. Cassandra wears her daughter’s favorite colours with pride and exhibits her painting on the walls. Kevin finds he is powerless in his home and Cassandra mocks the fact that it was her father who bought it. And when he finally leaves it, he leaves Cassandra forever.

Black Drama