Pierrepoint film review

certificate_15

PIERREPOINT

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain's most prolific hangman of the 20th century. A Yorkshireman, his father and grandfather before him were also executioners, but it was Albert who hung the likes of Lord Haw-Haw, Derek Bentley, Ruth Ellis, and many of the German war criminals found guilty after the Nuremburg trials.

Adrian Shergold's engaging film (co-written by comedian Bob Mills) looks at the life of this notorious figure and places it firmly in the changing social climate of the century, which began with people flocking to witness executions and ended in mass protests against the death penalty, culminating in a change in the law. Wisely the script doesn't focus on the rights or wrongs of capital punishment, but instead concentrates on the facts of the job and the moral pressure Pierrepoint increasingly felt.

The film is full of fascinating - if morbid - detail. Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) was a grocer by day, but would leave his wife (Juliet Stevenson) to carry out his duties at the behest of the government, returning with some welcome money but little to say about his job. He was obsessed by the detail of his position, most importantly giving the prisoners a swift and humane exit. The mechanism of the hanging procedure, the time it took (Pierrepoint was always trying to set a new record), and the way in which the bodies were dealt with after the event are all examined in grim detail.

Pierrepoint's ethical dilemma over his role increased as the years passed, and not just because of social pressure. Feted as a hero for hanging the Germans, by the 1960s he faced a huge backlash. But according to the film it was a personal encounter with an acquaintance that he had to kill that made him see things in a different light, and eventually led him to hanging up his noose.

Timothy Spall delivers a layered and nuanced performance in the title role, and proves once again why he is one of our best actors. He is given able support by Juliet Stevenson and the engaging Eddie Marsan as the friend that Pierrepoint eventually has to hang. Locations and set design all contribute to a very interesting film, which although occasionally has the feel of a very good TV movie, is nonetheless a peculiarly British and thought-provoking affair.

Paul Hurley