| release date: | June 15, 2007
Tuesday November 6, 2007 (dvd) |
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| genre: | Drama |
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| running time: | 90 min. |
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| director: | Adrian Shergold |
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| studio: | Odeon Films |
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| producer(s): | Christine Langan |
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| screenplay: | Jeff Pope, Bob Mills |
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| cast: | Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan |
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Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman Movie Synopsis
Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle before him, Albert Pierrepoint joins
the 'family business' in 1934. He rises through the ranks to become the most feared
and respected executioner in the country, hanging over 450 people in his lifetime.
Living a double life as a master hangman, and a grocery deliveryman and loyal
husband, Pierrepoint's obsession to become the 'Number One' executioner in the
country results in his selection as executioner for some of Britain's most infamous
murderers and Nazi war criminals. But this brings notoriety, shattering Pierrepoint's
guarded anonymity and turning him into a minor celebrity. When public opinion turns
against capital punishment, Pierrepoint becomes a scorned man and is ready to give
it all up, but fate has other plans in store for him. A devastating, true-life story of
Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most notorious hangman.
Pierrepoint is a fascinating portrait of a man who felt called to fulfill his destiny as an executioner, like his father and his father's father before him, weaving two braids of experience - one ordinary, one out of the ordinary - into a deeply affecting story of a man's loyalty to principle and its eventual breakdown in the face of two hardships - one personal, the other social. Prepare to be utterly absorbed and captivated for 90 minutes by the relentless march of events through more than two decades of hangings (1933 to 1955). I did not enjoy this film, but it made me think and feel differently about life and death, and I can honestly say that I'm glad I had a chance to watch it.