Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

nicholls_les Timothy Spall does a brilliant job acting as Albert Pierrepoint a man who delivered groceries but was also one of Englands part time hangmen. He looks nothing like the man himself, but acts so well that you are gripped and taken along by every emotion.Apparently over his time Pierrepoint executed 608 people, including Nazi war criminals and he famously hanged Ruth Ellis, the last women hanged in England.There are parts of the movie where they take liberties with the facts, but it doesn't detract from the over all feeling that this story conveys. The scenes where he executed someone he knew and sang with in the pub was very moving and although the film is about what is a not very nice subject, it is not overly graphic. I did however think that the scene where he stripped and washed down a woman he had just hung was unnecessary.What came across mainly was that Pierrepoint took pride in his work and tried to make what he did as quick and as humane as possible.At the end there is a quote from Pierrepoint where he states "I have come to the conclusion that executions solve nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge which takes the easy way and hands over the responsibility for revenge to other people ...The trouble with the death penalty has always been that nobody wanted it for everybody, but everybody differed about who should get off." They shortened it, but this is the full quote.

joanl-1 I found this film to be just fascinating. A family of executioners. How did he do it? The people who loved them. How it affected them. How professional he was and how respectful he was. How he did it as quickly as possible out of compassion for the convicted. He felt that he was providing a service for those who were convicted. He felt that as soon as the convicted had died, that they had then paid for their sins and were then sinless. His respect for the deceased and convicted. I loved it. It is all set in England in the 1930s. Albert is actually the son of a professional executioner and then decided that it was also his calling. A true story. I loved it.

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. ****

gradyharp PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN is one of those films that emerges from the cracks in the theater 'failures' only to find its poignant message when released on DVD. Granted, the idea of a story based on England's most famous executioner doesn't immediately catch the interest of the general audience, but for those fortunate enough to either rent or buy this DVD, the rewards are plentiful. It is a little masterpiece of writing, acting, directing and production values.Albert Pierrepoint was the third man in his family to 'ascend' to the list of executioners (capital punishment in England at the time was by hanging), and when he is accepted to the list in 1932 he begins what became the longest and most prolific career of British executioners. He took enormous pride in his work, assuring his peers as well as his 'victims' that every aspect of his job was done with obsessive professionalism: his timing of his duties was the shortest on record, meaning that from the moment he opened the door to the condemned prisoner's room through the hooding and noose placement and tripping of the platform and subsequent death of the 'criminal', he spared suffering as much as was feasible. He was supported by a wife who kept the secret of her husband's anonymous role and it was only when the Pierrepoint's pride in his job became known that downfall of their lives is threatened. At times adored by the public for his assignment to hand the Nazi criminals and the famous murderers and eventually the target of the anti capital punishment activists, Pierrepoint's professionalism sustained him until a final tragic assignment changed his view of his job.Timothy Spall is splendid as Pierrepoint, capturing all of the nuances of the simple, honest man's pride as well as his Achilles' heel. Juliet Stevenson turns in yet another understated and completely realized role as Pierrepoint's wife. Director Adrian Shergold, using a script written by Bob Mills and Jeff Pope, paces the film sensitively, drawing on the atrocious duties involved in the job of executioner (they actually had to prepare the bodies of the dead victims for the morticians!) along with the moments of pub frivolity to allow the audience to understand the true person Timothy Spall absorbs in his portrayal of Pierrepoint. The sets and lighting and cinematography could not be better. This is a film to view and absorb and appreciate the superior quality of acting of Spall and Stevenson. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp