The 10th Victim

The 10^th Victim (La Decima Vittima) (1965)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Elio Petri

Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress, Elsa Martinelli, Salvo Randone, Massimo Serato

From: Compagnia Cinematografica Champion/Les Films Concordia

(I actually did not see any film last night; this was a Tuesday night watch that is just getting reviewed now. That wasn't the plan beforehand, but the past few days have been—chaotic for me. It's nothing horrible like what I experienced in 2020 but at least for now no further details will be provided. Whether or not I'll have a day soon of multiple reviews-who knows.)

In the past I've heard of this movie somewhere (that was why it ended up on my Watchlist here on Letterboxd sometime way back when) and a recent review from a mutual finally inspired me to give this a shot. After the viewing experience, I was more puzzled than anything else.

Sometime in the 21st century, there's a popular worldwide competition known as the Big Hunt where one person attempts to hunt someone else down; the rules are explained by some bug-eyed dude in the opening scene. If someone survives 10 of those scenarios, they receive a figurative king's ransom. Ursula Andress is tasked w/ hunting down Marcello Mastroianni but love is in the air... that may sound simple enough but this movie is bathed in weirdness. Andress having a film crew around so the kill can be used for a TV ad... that does seem prescient for modern times and that's not the only case of that here.

What is bizarre is all the random pop art that is frequently seen, or the strange inexplicable things (sometimes in the background) or all the off-kilter ideas that are briefly addressed/are minor plot points. Original, this is; presumably that is much more so than in either The Purge or The Hunger Games franchises this is often compared to. Marcello playing an off-putting sort of character is one thing... me not really caring for his romance w/ Andress is another. At least I was able to laugh in disbelief on several occasions at this peculiar world and how-for instance-one scene has a random dude who has his face and hands completely bandaged-and not only he is mainly in the background, why he's bandaged is never even hinted at let alone elaborated upon.

While I don't love this like some do, I can easily give credit for this being original, which is more than what I can say for what this has often been compared to-The Hunger Games and The Purge franchises. Furthermore, this predicted the future in some ways. Besides the idea of the big kill being filmed for public entertainment, in a roundabout way it predicted the rise of comic book movies. In this version of the future, comic books are treated as classic works of art, even if they are in theory designed for kids such as a series devoted to Tom & Jerry. Heck, even Mike Myers is a fan; Austin Powers was not the first time that the movie world saw what they described as “machine gun jubblies.” As the fake band from that franchise was named Ming Tea and Ming Tea was the product that Andress wanted to shill... that gag was lifted but done as a loving tribute.