Five Years
Year: 2013
Runtime: 87 mins
Language: German
Director: Stefan Schaller
The film explores the perplexing circumstances that led Murat Kurnaz to Guantanamo Bay. It investigates the psychological impact of his prolonged and unjust detention, detailing the physical and mental suffering he experienced. The documentary examines the challenges and complexities of his ordeal.
Warning: spoilers below!
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Five Years (2013) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained
Read the complete plot breakdown of Five Years (2013), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Imagine you are 19 years old. School is over, driving license in the pocket, first love, you live on your own… It’s an overall sensation of freedom and the feeling no one can stop you! Most people remember this period of time, when they were 24, 25 years old, as the best time of their life with the most impact. Now imagine this period of your life gets wiped out. Five years gone - snatched away from you. Instead you get arrested and tortured in a cell of six square meters in the US detention facility of Guantanamo Bay. No explanation as to why. No evidence. No trial. And with no hope to ever come free. Inconceivable. Unthinkable. This is exactly what happened to Murat Kurnaz, Sascha Alexander Gersak, a young man from Bremen (Germany) of Turkish parentage.
“Can you remember the last time you were alone - I mean, really alone? No one to talk to, nothing to read, no phone, no computer, no iPod, no television, no radio, no activity, no companion? Psychiatrists say that if you try this, you should not do it for longer than a day!”
Murat Kurnaz put up with it for much longer! In fact, he put up with it for exactly 1727 days in prison - in the US detention facility of Guantanamo Bay - including one year of complete isolation. Murat Kurnaz gets interrogated, mistreated, humiliated and tortured. He is supposed to confess an alleged collaboration with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. He never saw a regular court or ever got officially charged for a verdict, let alone did he have the opportunity to defend himself. He had to wait. He had nothing else left to do. Five years is not only the story of Murat Kurnaz, but the story of the Guantanamo system, a system that leads itself ad absurdum. To tell that story, Murat Kurnaz is the ideal protagonist. His hero’s journey lets us understand how the system spins round and undermines the rule of law, which it is actually supposed to be defending.
Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:22
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Gripping films about wrongful confinement like Five Years
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The narrative pattern involves a character or group being physically or mentally trapped, with the environment itself becoming an antagonist. The story unfolds as a slow-burn examination of their psychological deterioration, resilience, or transformation under extreme pressure.
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Five Years Timeline
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Characters, Settings & Themes in Five Years
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