10th Victim (1965) Movie Review (La Decima Vittima)
Ten years or more ahead of Death Race 2000 (1975), Rollerball (1975), Deathsport (1978), and Running Man (1987), The 10th Victim is by far the classiest in the let’s-kill-or-watch-killing- for-fun-freedom-or-money genre. As a way to control violence (and, one assumes, make money for the governments by getting people to bet against the odds, like the lottery), an international game is devised that allows a person at a chance for one million dollars. You can volunteer to be in the Big Hunt and if you do, you take alternating turns being the Hunter or the Victim. The Hunter knows his prey, the victim does not know who is hunting him. If you live through 10 hunts, then you win one million dollars, a lot of money in 1965.
In the movie, there have been no wars since The Big Hunt began. People seem to think that a lust for violence is the only reason for war. This is a very simplistic and unrealistic view of the world. War is caused by one group’s desire for something another group has or is blocking. Or by lunatics.
Very few people make it through 10 hunts. Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) has made it through 9 (and what a kill that 9th one is!), and for her 10th, the Ming Tea Company has offered her a deal on top of the one million if she will endorse Ming Tea and can orchestrate the killing so they can film it for a commercial. This means she can’t just sneak up on her Victim, but must lure him to the area they have set up for filming. Caroline pretends to be a reporter working on a story about Italian men and sex, and attempts to set up an interview with her Victim, Marcello Polletti (Marcello Mastroianni). He is suspicious, as he must be, for he is Victim and doesn’t know who the Hunter is. Then it’s a cat-and-mouse game from there.
Polletti is depressed and unhappy with both his wife and his mistress (Elsa Martinelli). Life seems to have lost any interest, and so he joined the game to either end it or make it interesting. Plus, with the million he can get away from his women and his debts.
Andress, looking better than I’ve ever seen her (and that’s pretty darn good), doesn’t seem as stilted in her acting here as she does in Dr. No and her other earlier work. Here, she isn’t too bad as New Yorker who speaks very good Italian. Lots of New Yorkers know Italian I’m sure.
The cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo is superb. The film simply looks stunning. He also did the Italian films 8 ½ and La Notte. The style in The 10th Victim is fantastic and is reason enough to watch. Even the ancient ruins around Rome look like High Modern sytle. There are also several moments of very funny black comedy.
In one interesting scene Polletti makes fun of “neo-realists,” people who don’t believe in his worship of the sunset, but the inside-joke is that “neorealism” is an Italian film style that is gritty and spontaneous, the opposite of this outlandish plot and smooth style.
Highly recommended for lovers of mid-1960s, Modern style, murder-for-no-reason films, Rome, or Ursula Andress.
Photos courtesy of lilita at flickr.
The 10th Victim, directed by Elio Petri. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress and Elsa Martinelli. 1965, 92 minutes.
2 Responses “10th Victim (1965) Movie Review (La Decima Vittima)”
LP Cover Lover
RetroSpace
Great writeup and photos. I really enjoyed this post. I’ve never seen this movie before. You definitely have me wanting to check it out. Hope you had a cool weekend. Cheers!
Keith, I think you’ll really like it. Lots of coolness.