Five Seconds to Spare
Synopsis
Only trouble is, in reality, William's life is beset with frustration: his witless band seem intent upon turning his dark, heartfelt songs into commercial pop; the coolly desirable Madeleine hangs out of reach and even catching a bus on a Sunday seems a hopeless act of faith. Things could hardly get any worse, but they do - when he becomes the only witness to a bizarre murder.
Details
- Year
- 2000
- Type of project
- Features
- Running time
- 99 mins
- Format
- 35mm Kodak
- Director
-
Tom Connolly
- Producer
- Nik Powell, Stephen Wooley
- Editor
- Caroline Biggerstaff
- Screenwriter
- Tom Connolly
- Director of Photography
- Ashley Rowe
- Sound
- Mark Holding
- Composer
- Adrian McKinney (Musical Supervisor), Ben Pope (Composer)
- Principal cast
- Max Beesley, Ray Winstone, Valentina Cervi
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Scala Wildgaze Scala Productions 15 Frith Street London W1V 5TS Tel: 020 7734 7060 Fax: 020 7437 3248 scalaprods@aol.com
Sales Company
Winchester Films Contact: Billy Hurman, Andrew Brown 19 Heddon Street London W1R 7LF Tel: 020 7851 6500 Fax: 020 7851 6515 abrown@winchesterent.co.uk bhurman@winchesterent.co.uk
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See also
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Five Seconds to Spare
Director: Tom Connolly
Year: 2000
Based on Jonathan Coe's novel Dwarves Of Death, Five Seconds To Spare is the story of William (Max Beesley), a young aspiring musician who arrives in London in search of success and romance, only to find himself the sole witness to a bizarre murder. The film marks the feature film debut of award-winning commercials director Tom Connolly and is produced by Amanda Posey, who says she optioned the rights to the book in 1995, because of its "vividly cinematic premise". Coe wrote a number of drafts for Five Seconds To Spare before Connolly, also a screenwriter, came on board as director and re-wrote the final draft. "Tom had a very strong, coherent and complete vision of both what he wanted to do with the script to give it a visual vibrancy, and how that translated into shooting it as a director," says Posey. Despite his experience as a musician, Beesley, who hit the spotlight with his performance as the BBC's Tom Jones, was not at first an obvious choice for the part of William. "Max is magnetic and confident, in complete contrast to the character of William," says Posey. "But he worked because he counteracted any possibility of William seeming drippy." Music plays an integral part in the film, which boasts an original score by Ben Pope and even features a cameo by Radio One DJ John Peel. Five Seconds To Spare premiered at the Greenwich Film Festival in June.
About A Bell
Director: Simon Callow
Year: 2026
Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.
