P!ERREP0!NT PART3

Timothy Spall stars in a biopic of Britain's best-known 20th century executioner
Like Vera Drake, Pierrepoint takes place in a mid-20th century Britain where colour was not permitted: everything is drab, brown and municipal green. But whereas the character Vera Drake was providing humane, efficient abortions in a time when it was illegal, Albert Pierrepoint - a real historical figure - is providing a very different sort of termination; executing prisoners.

Pierrepoint is a fascinating portrait of a man trying to maintain a decent, ordinary life while presiding over legally sanctioned death. We first meet Albert (Spall) being talked through the execution procedure at London's Pentonville Prison in 1932. Shortly afterwards, Pierrepoint, a grocery delivery man, receives a letter at his home in Oldham, Lancashire. He's been accepted onto "the list" to become an executioner, following in the footsteps of both his father and uncle. "It's just in me. I knew it'd come out one day," he tells his mother.

While continuing his day job in groceries and marrying local shopgirl Annie (Stevenson), Albert goes about his new work with professionalism, eager to prove himself, to better both his father and his peers. He soon breaks records and rises to become Britain's number one executioner. "I do try to take a pride in my work. I don't believe there's a quicker man on the list," he says.

He gets a further ego boost after the Second World War when he's selected by the Army to handle the execution of those convicted of war crimes. Monty (Francis) himself tells him, "I want the world to know our executions are the most efficient and the most humane." But in Germany, Albert is faced with huge batches of executions. Can he maintain his professionalism, and his mental wellbeing, in the face of such a production line of killing? For the most part, Albert seems a very ordinary man, albeit a quiet, repressed one. He only loses his cool when the system breaks down - when he's hanging 13 Nazis on the 13th day of the month and they run out of coffins. The worst breakdown in the system comes when he's exposed in the press. "It's not right," he says of becoming a celebrity of sorts. Of course, at the same time, the anti-capital punishment movement was gathering momentum. All these elements combine in a film that looks both at the man himself and at Britain at a turning point in its attitude towards law and human life.

Shergold's film, co-written and executive produced by Jeff Pope, is ultimately unequivocal about its attitude towards capital punishment, closing with a quote from the real Pierrepoint. "Capital punishment achieved nothing except revenge". However, it's not a dogmatic or heavy-handed film, thanks in part to an excellent performance from Spall. It's a turn that ranks among the actor's best work, as he ably handles the difficult challenge of keeping Pierrepoint credible as both an ordinary man and a professional killer. It's a hard act given how alien capital punishment seems several decades after its abolition in the UK.

Cutting back and forth between prison, the holding cell, the gallows, home and the pub (where he does a double-act with his ill-fated best friend, played by Vera Drake star Marsden), the film emphasises that capital punishment can't be dissociated from ordinary life, in the same way that ultimately Albert can't detach himself from his acts.

His rhetoric was, "When I walk into the cell, I leave Albert Pierrepoint behind," but how possible is it to totally suppress a sense of involvement and responsibility from something as grim and drastic as ending someone's life? The film subtly suggests we're all subject to the moral consequences of such killing; a society can't detach itself from acts its legal and social systems condone.

Some may suggest the film, made by Granada, is more suited to a small screen. But visually it's very like Vera Drake, with a lot of interiors, and cropped exteriors. And like Vera Drake, it isn't a barrel of laughs, but it's excellent cinematic drama nonetheless.

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Film & Animation

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[Lestatler]

I was going to limit my remarks to what a fantastic work this film is and how well it depicts the death penalty everywhere [to pro and con alike].

Then I saw the larger thread below.

My apologies to our UK friends for the ignorant spew from some of my fellow US citizens. It's truly shocking and scary as hell.

[Joshuadrooney]

Sadly, you're wrong yet again. The Battle of Britain is universally known as being the battle which prevented the country from being invaded, we won, and we fought on our own. We saved ourself, and you only came in when the nips bombed your boats. You can think about that when you're in your FEMA campbed and your country is bankrupt - 5 states down, there's not much time left! Maybe a mexican family will take your house. Good luck Jose!

[lasaboteuse]

@TheBusa123 Pierrepoint didn't force him to run, he wanted to run.

[Factnotfictionpeople]

@TheBusa123 Its about limiting suffering. Hanging, unlike the act of circus that is death by lethal injection, is - if done well - both quick AND clean.

[yeshu26uk]

how do executioners deal with remorse?

[pinkmascaragirl1]

james corden ohhh my goawwwwwwwd

[TheBusa123]

If this is a true representation of what happened i have to ask what kind of person runs a man to the gallows, those were his final moments on earth, that wasn't anything to do with being human. Just imagine if that was you in that cell snd you were innocent like some who were hanged were, would you have liked to be ran to the gallows in 7.5 seconds....

[FlyingFox1971]

This was the judicial system at its finest, Hanging scum,, BRING BACK HANGING !

[eastlight]

@I12BPhil America joined the war because it became obvious,even to them, that in time Hitler would have the capability of hitting the US mainland from western France. There were in fact three different German projects under way to produce a vehicle which could bomb New York and show the inhabitants just what it was like to be in a real war. Fortunately, the US successfully participated in D Day solely to prevent this happening under the pretence of liberating Europe.

[callipposhots]

Albert Peirrepoint hanged two women in Britain as executioner. This one, Dorothea Waddingham, in 1936 he only assisted his uncle Tom Pierrepoint. Ruth Ellis, the last female to be hanged in Britain, in 1955 was hanged by Albert Pierrepoint but the movie does not cover the other woman he hanged, the year before Ellis, the Greek Cypriot Styllou Pantopiou Christofi.

[athame57]

@E2theSamps ..no, brain death is instant yes, but the body tends to take a few minutes or more to shut down.

[Isthisthelongestname]

Christ I cant believe this part hasnt been flagged! Ive seen far less flagged by prudes or zealots on here!