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Gallows humour in touching film
PIERREPOINT - Directed by Adrian Shergold
Certificate 15
TIMOTHY Spall is best known for his numerous roles in successful
British made-for-TV comedy dramas. He attracts casting agents
for these kinds of darkly humorous series like bluebottles round
a dead cat.
He revealed a deeper sensibility in Mike Leigh’s Secrets
And Lies, before showing he could ham it up with the best in
the Harry Potter franchise.
So it is no surprise when the choice came for someone to play
the country’s busiest hangman, Albert Pierrepoint that
Timothy Spall passed the audition. He has enough of the ordinary
bloke about his persona to make him a very believable hangman
who would rather be nursing a pint in a pub and talking about
horse-racing than pondering on the ethics of state- sanctioned
killings.
Gallows humour abounds – Pierrepoint, which was originally
thought up for TV, has droll moments which lighten the mood
– but with Spall in the lead role it is done in such a
way that the tragic absurdity of state- sponsored killing comes
over effortlessly.
There have been films about capital punishment, ranging from
12 Angry Men – which, if it weren’t for Henry Fonda,
would have seen the accused taken to the electric chair, to
the more recent Green Mile, with Tom Hanks attempting to show
a humane side to the warden’s work. The recent biopic of
Truman Capote could also be considered to be a measured discussion
of capital punishment: forget Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Capote’s
name was cemented as a serious writer with In Cold Blood.
In Pierrepoint, director Adrian Shergold manages to take a measured
look at the man who measured the rope and pulled the lever 450
times, making him Britain’s most prolific hangman.
Our story starts with lorry driver Albert Pierrepoint receiving
notice that he has been accepted as a trainee executioner. Perhaps
a strange career choice, but one that runs in the family. as
both his father and uncle were hangmen.
There is a strange juxtaposition in his life. He does not want
to talk about his work at home but he conducts his chores with
dignity. He also puts the case as to why he should be out of
a job, stating that he is amazed at the courage shown by the
convicted as they wait for him to do his job.
He says: “All the men and women I have faced at that final
moment convince me that in what I have done I have not prevented
a single murder.”
For a potentially unpleasant subject, Spall does his job with
dignity – like the man he has successfully portrayed. |
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