Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

diogenes-858-449167 I likes me a good British film. And this is one. A good script, coupled with an interesting story on a confronting subject, throw in some excellent characters and performances, you have this gem. Timothy Spall is Albert Pierrepoint. We journey with him from his induction as hangman, to the man who holds the speed record for a hanging, to having to hang the man who was once his best friend. Spall plays the role with beautifully understated resolve and resignation.The direction is exquisite, cinematography top class. Watching one hanging after another, hearing their crimes, watching their last steps, last words, men and women, the guilty and the still pleading innocence. There's much more to the story, but it's our anticipation as each hanging approaches, our brief sighting of and introduction to the victim, that keeps this film peaking throughout. Martin Phipps score is the cherry on this unforgettable cake.

box2 This film is about the career of Albert Pierrepoint, one of Britain's last executioners; progressing from gloomy, umber anonymity in the '40s, through unwelcomed celebrity as the Allies' hand of justice at the Belsen war-crimes trials, to uneasy focus of some anti-capital-punishment vitriol in the late '50s. However, hanging is not the subject of this play, it is the gruesome backdrop against which the main characters struggle with the conflicts of conscience, duty, social propriety and making a living in hard times. Timothy Spall, who does not have a great dramatic range (unlike Juliette Stevenson who plays his wife), manages to make his vexatious guinea-pig expression work as that of the ruthlessly mechanical hangman taking pride in the speed with which he can dispatch each miscreant. To begin with, the meticulously-observed, depressingly-confined, scenery of the condemned man's cells, English back parlors and wartime pubs, accompanied by some beautifully lugubrious music, may make you feel that you might soon be in need Albert's merciful services, but this is a superb drama of unexpected depth and, before the end, you will be spun round, marched into a different room and dropped on a noose of pathos.

Gordon-11 This film is about the work and family life of Britain's most prolific executioner."The Last Hangman" deals with a grim topic which many people would regard as a taboo. It is not easy to make it a good film out of it. Fortunately, "The Last Hangman" has a particularly effective plot that details the psychological change of Pierrepoint as his career progresses. Timothy Spall acts very well, as he delivers a range of undoubtedly effective emotions. From pride, doubt to depression, everything shows on his face clearly."The Last Hangman" is a detailed psychological journey of a gruesome occupation. It should not be missed.

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning A biography of Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) Britain's last hangman, who tried to give the people he was called on to kill as much dignity as he could during and after their execution and who eventually resigned from his job feeling he and society had achieved nothing but revenge. The film follows his life, as he goes from being a humble delivery-man to a bakery to his most infamous job and then onto owning a pub with his wife. However, when he's called on to execute one of his closest friends, his stance on his job is put in the ultimate context.Thinking about the recent explosion in violent crime, with stabbings and shootings on the increase, there are a few calling for the return of the death penalty, hoping that will balance the scales of justice properly. Pierrepoint takes us back to a time when this was a daily reality, when state sanctioned murder was carried out without any hesitation or fear of recompense. There are no statistics available to say whether the violent crime rate was lower then or whether the DP acted as a real deterrent, but when the execution date was set, the hangman just killed without hesitation or mercy. Back when 'British justice was the best in the world.' Needless to say, those who choose to watch Pierrepoint will inhibit a a rather grim, bleak world, as the condemned cry, pant and plead before their fate is sealed, the blinds put over them, the noose wrapped around and the trap-door opened.The reliably great Spall carries the film flawlessly, delivering a powerful and mesmerizing performance as well as a spotless Yorkshire accent. As such, this is a man who speaks his mind and stands no bullsh!t, but is also a gentle, humble man who's humanity races to the surface when dealing with those he kills, distancing himself from the details of their crimes so he can see them as people who need thought in their final moments. If, as a society, killing those who kill makes us no better than them, then at least our attitude to their life in contrast to theirs to their victims, can separate us? A small little film about a big subject, Pierrepoint is one to see. ****