Heaven

"When you take justice into your own hands, what are the consequences?"

2002 1h 36m EN

😐

6.5

MID

★6.5TMDB · 302

DramaThrillerRomanceCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A woman takes the law into her own hands after police ignore her pleas to arrest the man responsible for her husband's death, and finds herself not only under arrest for murder but falling in love with an officer.

“When you take justice into your own hands, what are the consequences?”

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Cast

Cate Blanchett
Philippa
Giovanni Ribisi
Filippo
Remo Girone
Filippo's Father
Stefania Rocca
Regina
Alessandro Sperduti
Ariel
Mattia Sbragia
Major Pini
Stefano Santospago
Mr. Vendice
Alberto Di Stasio
The Prosecutor

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tom Tykwer
Writers: Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Krzysztof Kieślowski
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: France, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: France, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tom Tykwer, shot by Frank Griebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marius Ruhland. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tom Tykwer directs. Frank Griebe behind the camera. Marius Ruhland scores. Mathilde Bonnefoy cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 39% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 24 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4International production across 4 countries: France, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom.
5Part of the "Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Tom Tykwer, shot by Frank Griebe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Marius Ruhland. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Mathilde Bonnefoy shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi and Remo Girone carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "When you take justice into your own hands, what are the consequences?".
11IMDB entry: tt0246677 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 11 themes, including "assassination", "police", "court", "bomb".
13Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Frank Griebe
Original score: Marius Ruhland
Editing: Mathilde Bonnefoy
Production design: Uli Hanisch
Costume design: Monika Jacobs
Makeup / hair: Alessandro Bertolazzi
Stunt coordinator: Volkhart Buff
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $4,251,037
Return: 39% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Heaven (2002)

Part of

Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Collection

Krzysztof Kieslowski trilogy co-written with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, consisting of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory and inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy. As was originally intended for the Decalogue, the scripts were ostensibly intended to be given to other directors for filming, but Kieślowski's untimely death means it is unknown whether he might have broken his self-imposed retirement to direct the trilogy himself. The only completed screenplay, Heaven, was filmed by Tom Tykwer and released in 2002. The other two scripts existed only as thirty-page treatments at the time of Kieślowski's death; Piesiewicz has since completed these screenplays. Hell (2005): Directed by Bosnian director Danis Tanović and starring Emmanuelle Béart. Purgatory, which is about a photographer killed in the Bosnian war, remains unproduced. Hope (2007): Directored by Ibo Kurdo and Stanislaw Mucha, this may be considered the third part of this trilogy.