Coming at the tail-end of one of the most provocative eras of film, European new wave, and featuring Italian cinema's premiere leading man of the time, Mr. Mastroianni, The 10th Victim exciting movie, given its year of release. The concept, that a group of over-bored members of a somewhat Utopian society spend their time hunting and being the hunted in the then-futuristic 1990's, works well, while the Italian backdrop is, as usual, a treat. While at times aping better Italian filmmakers of the time such as Fellini, the movie chugs along into a somewhat twisted relationship between hunter and hunted - the female component of this equation being played by Ursula Andress, yow!. Themes of a desensitized society, anonymity, and a thrill-seeking populace would re-emerge around the early 90's in America with cult obsessions over serial killers, a groundswell of violent video games/movies/television,and the formation of underground social cliques and groups such as gen x and "grunge" culture, whose attitudes towards sex/society/money/politics differed radically from the norm. The Tenth Victim may not have been on the spot prediction-wise, but its themes were accurate to the future scape it was attempting to create.
59 Reviews
Funny and Entertaining
claudio_carvalho6 November 2015
In the near future, violence is controlled in societies avoiding wars. Killing is allowed to violent individuals in a game called Big Hunt where the participants are alternatively Hunter or Victim. The winner of each round is awarded with a prize and the survivor after ten rounds, wins one million dollar award (in 1965).
When the American huntress Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) completes her ninth round, she comes to Rome to kill her tenth victim. She negotiates with the sponsor Ming Tea Company to kill his victim in front of the cameras. The cynical Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni) is her target and has just succeeded in his marriage annulment with Lidia (Luce Bonifassy) but has not disclosed to his lover Olga (Elsa Martinelli). Marcello suspects that Caroline is his hunter, but is not sure; further he falls in love with her and he is reluctant to kill her.
"La decima vittima" is a funny and entertaining comedy with a silly but cult story. The sexy Ursula Andress is in the top of her beauty and shows a perfect chemistry with Marcello Mastroianni. In the end, the viewer has 92 minutes of fun. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Décima Vítima" (The Tenth Victim")
Note: On 31 January 2023, I saw this film again.
When the American huntress Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) completes her ninth round, she comes to Rome to kill her tenth victim. She negotiates with the sponsor Ming Tea Company to kill his victim in front of the cameras. The cynical Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni) is her target and has just succeeded in his marriage annulment with Lidia (Luce Bonifassy) but has not disclosed to his lover Olga (Elsa Martinelli). Marcello suspects that Caroline is his hunter, but is not sure; further he falls in love with her and he is reluctant to kill her.
"La decima vittima" is a funny and entertaining comedy with a silly but cult story. The sexy Ursula Andress is in the top of her beauty and shows a perfect chemistry with Marcello Mastroianni. In the end, the viewer has 92 minutes of fun. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "A Décima Vítima" (The Tenth Victim")
Note: On 31 January 2023, I saw this film again.
A Futuristic, sci-fi, dark comedy
jhd6669 June 2005
In the future an organization sets up a game show that show people hunting each other. Two people are chosen: the Hunter and the Victim. Anything goes as the Victim flees for the designated time period. Marcello Mastorianni plays the most successful killer and then his number comes up as a victim. The hunters and victims have know knowledge of one another and Marcello must always be on guard. The hunter after him is the beautiful Ursula Andress, always dressed in knock-out fashions. Marcello's as cool as ever, always dressed in black, wearing sunglasses. The production design is fantastic. The colourful comic book architecture is the height of retro cool. For fan of Italian '60s pop art science fiction, this is one to check out.
A magnificent piece of Pop Art
sinistre111116 August 2001
To judge this film by "today's standards" misses the point--what are we comparing it to? Armageddon? Scream 3? This was the European 60s vision of the 'future'-- and why didn't it turn out that way? An odd, cheeky little plot mixing romance, light sci-fi and gunplay is underscored by dazzling visuals in a similar style to The Prisoner series, or Alphaville (if it were in color). Piero Piccioni's score is pure 'Jazz 2001', and is available as an import reissue. Mastroianni is charming and Ursula Andress is at her sexiest, in an array of groovy ensembles. It all depends on what you're after, but personally I wish the WORLD LOOKED like this movie and that men's and women's fashion reflected this film's 'in the future, people will dress like this' style. Anchor Bay's DVD is a great addition to the collection of any 60s/European film fan.
Clever But Thin
gftbiloxi3 February 2008
According to film lore, actor Marcello Mastroianni was so impressed with a short-story by science-fiction author Robert Sheckley that he sent it to director Elio Petri. The result was a groundbreaking Italian film that alternately shocked and amused audiences of 1965--and which, like the 1976 NETWORK, proved prophetic re the rise of "reality television." Set in a future imagined in terms of minimalist 1960s fashion and design movements, THE 10TH VICTIM (LA DECIMA VITTIMA) presents us with a world that has sublimated the human race's hunger for violence into a game known as "The Big Hunt." Register as a member and you become predator and prey, with each player seeking to survive while killing ten others in order to win fame, fortune, and national acclaim.
American Caroline Meredith (Ursla Andress) is particularly celebrated and--after dispatching her ninth victim via her boobytrapped bra--is eager to win the grand prize by taking out her tenth: Italian Marcello Polletti (Marcello Mastroianni.) But an advertiser promises her even bigger bucks if she can turn it into a television ad for his product, creating a situation in which Caroline cannot simply kill Marcello at will: she must do it at a particular place and time where the cameras will be rolling.
In order to accomplish this, Caroline decides to seduce Marcello with both her body and the lure of cash--which he badly needs--for a television interview. Marcello is no fool, and even as Caroline plans to blow his head off for benefit of television he's signing his own advertising deal to accomplish her death by crocodile. But there's a further complication: even as they attempt to maneuver each other into death, they also unwillingly fall in love.
THE 10TH VICTIM was extremely celebrated in 1965; today, however, it reads as slightly thin. We've become used to the idea of people who are willing to do just about anything on television, and the idea of murder by game show isn't nearly so far-fetched as it used to be. The film scores, however, in its specific ideas, which range from exploding boots to a government that occasionally switches out your apartment's furniture whether you like it or not. The DVD transfer is quite nice, but bonuses are limited to cast notes and the theatrical trailer. Recommended, but mainly for fans of 1960s futurism who haven't lost their sense of humor! GFT, Amazon Reviewer
American Caroline Meredith (Ursla Andress) is particularly celebrated and--after dispatching her ninth victim via her boobytrapped bra--is eager to win the grand prize by taking out her tenth: Italian Marcello Polletti (Marcello Mastroianni.) But an advertiser promises her even bigger bucks if she can turn it into a television ad for his product, creating a situation in which Caroline cannot simply kill Marcello at will: she must do it at a particular place and time where the cameras will be rolling.
In order to accomplish this, Caroline decides to seduce Marcello with both her body and the lure of cash--which he badly needs--for a television interview. Marcello is no fool, and even as Caroline plans to blow his head off for benefit of television he's signing his own advertising deal to accomplish her death by crocodile. But there's a further complication: even as they attempt to maneuver each other into death, they also unwillingly fall in love.
THE 10TH VICTIM was extremely celebrated in 1965; today, however, it reads as slightly thin. We've become used to the idea of people who are willing to do just about anything on television, and the idea of murder by game show isn't nearly so far-fetched as it used to be. The film scores, however, in its specific ideas, which range from exploding boots to a government that occasionally switches out your apartment's furniture whether you like it or not. The DVD transfer is quite nice, but bonuses are limited to cast notes and the theatrical trailer. Recommended, but mainly for fans of 1960s futurism who haven't lost their sense of humor! GFT, Amazon Reviewer
This Fashion Never Gets Old
surferdevil-467403 May 2021
by the end I was smiling broadly
christopher-underwood4 November 2014
Very silly, very early 1960s, very Italian, very stylish and in the end very sexy and very amusing. This variant of The Dangerous Game does not start well and is far more confusing than it need be but the more it goes on and the more we saw of Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress the more fun it gets. Having recently seen Andress give a great performance with Stanley Baker in Perfect Friday, I was delighted to see she is just as good here, helping proceedings enormously with her great looks and performance. Mastoianni is as reliable as ever but doesn't look so good with blond hair and doesn't seem 100% comfortable all the time. Hard to classify and also hard to rate because although by the end I was smiling broadly, was not anything like as happy at the start. Very strange film and it sits even more strangely within the output of director, Elio Petri but certainly worth seeing and if you like Andress, you will love it.
It's a gas!
BA_Harrison29 November 2020
Old movies that inaccurately predict the future are always good for a few giggles, and The 10th Victim (1965) gets so much wrong that it cannot fail to entertain on that level: the supposedly futuristic fashions are fabulously silly, with liberal use of PVC clothing; the film's 21st-century technology would have seemed outdated by the '70s (the computers are rubbish and they're still using rotary-dial telephones and CRT TVs); no attempt is made to make modes of transport look like they're from the next millennium; and the soundtrack couldn't be more mid-'60s if it tried. This alone makes the movie fun for fans of kitsch cinema, but the film also benefits from a totally bonkers approach to its story, with satirical humour and a particularly crazy final act. As they might have said back then, 'It's, like, totally far out, man!'.
The basic premise is that, in the 21st century, mankind has developed a way of channelling its lust for violence: The Big Hunt, in which members of the public volunteer to partake in manhunts, taking it in turns to be the hunter and the hunted, with prize money for the survivors. Live through 10 hunts, and a sum of one million dollars is the reward.
In the film's hilarious opening scene, sexy Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) turns the table on her hunter by gunning him down with a weaponised bra ("Machine gun jubblies? How did I miss those, baby?"). It's her ninth successive win, and for her tenth hunt, she is approached by a TV advertising company who want to broadcast her final kill as a publicity stunt. Caroline proceeds to play a game of cat and mouse with her next victim, Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni), and attempts to lure him to where the TV crew is waiting. Poletti is no fool, however, and matches her every move.
Based on a book by Robert Sheckley, the story takes swipes at consumerism, hippy cults, and mass entertainment, but director Elio Petri maintains a light, breezy approach throughout, ensuring that, even though the subject is legalised murder, his movie is a whole lot of inconsequential fun unlikely to offend. The style is very much of the day - pop-art comic-book nonsense (think Barbarella, Matt Helm, Yellow Submarine) with some psychaedlic strangeness that is guaranteed to amuse (those saxophanists on plinths - weird!). The finalé is especially funny, with Meredith and Poletti repeatedly turning the tables on each other, eventually teaming up for a gun battle against Poletti's ex-wife and mistress.
6/10. Not for everyone, but those who dig camp Euro-sci-fi from days gone by will find it agreeable.
The basic premise is that, in the 21st century, mankind has developed a way of channelling its lust for violence: The Big Hunt, in which members of the public volunteer to partake in manhunts, taking it in turns to be the hunter and the hunted, with prize money for the survivors. Live through 10 hunts, and a sum of one million dollars is the reward.
In the film's hilarious opening scene, sexy Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) turns the table on her hunter by gunning him down with a weaponised bra ("Machine gun jubblies? How did I miss those, baby?"). It's her ninth successive win, and for her tenth hunt, she is approached by a TV advertising company who want to broadcast her final kill as a publicity stunt. Caroline proceeds to play a game of cat and mouse with her next victim, Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni), and attempts to lure him to where the TV crew is waiting. Poletti is no fool, however, and matches her every move.
Based on a book by Robert Sheckley, the story takes swipes at consumerism, hippy cults, and mass entertainment, but director Elio Petri maintains a light, breezy approach throughout, ensuring that, even though the subject is legalised murder, his movie is a whole lot of inconsequential fun unlikely to offend. The style is very much of the day - pop-art comic-book nonsense (think Barbarella, Matt Helm, Yellow Submarine) with some psychaedlic strangeness that is guaranteed to amuse (those saxophanists on plinths - weird!). The finalé is especially funny, with Meredith and Poletti repeatedly turning the tables on each other, eventually teaming up for a gun battle against Poletti's ex-wife and mistress.
6/10. Not for everyone, but those who dig camp Euro-sci-fi from days gone by will find it agreeable.
A hidden gem...
carrienations13 February 2001
I normally don't feel compelled to write reviews for films, especially when similar views have already been presented. However, after seeing a blatantly off-base review under the title of "hopeless" for "The 10th Victim", I had to make up for it. That reviewer is obviously incapable of appreciating a film like this because it's not easily pigeonholed. It's a fun, exciting comedy, drama, and farce rolled into one... I really liked the interactions between Andress (who looks absolutely stunning in this film) and Mastroianni. An interesting concept that is well executed... after viewing it for the first time, I knew it would remain an all-time favorite of mine for life... I am thrilled that this is finally seeing the light of day on DVD (after a way-outdated VHS version that even had a photo of Andress from ten years later on the cover, instead of a proper still from the movie). I'm buying this on DVD the second it's released...
Lest I forget... the soundtrack of this film is simply amazing... Not a large amount of original music, but what a score it is... by the Italian master Piero Piccioni. Listen and love...
Lest I forget... the soundtrack of this film is simply amazing... Not a large amount of original music, but what a score it is... by the Italian master Piero Piccioni. Listen and love...
Conveys a fair amount of imagination
MOscarbradley7 June 2017
Released here in a dubbed version in order to maximize its audience Elio Petri's "The 10th Victim" was a satire set in a future where sex and particularly violence were very much the norm but which was filmed on existing locations like Godard's "Alphaville". The plot deals with a world where killing and hunting down victims is a paid sport, televised for the pleasure of the masses and in this respect it prefigures the likes of "Battle Royale" and "The Hunger Games" by 40 or so years.
It's a gorgeous looking picture, (the DoP was Gianni Di Venanzo), with one of the most beautiful women ever to grace a movie, Ursula Andress, in the lead but despite being 'futuristic' it's now very much a period piece like most other films from 'the swinging sixties'. The male lead is a slumming Marcello Mastroianni who phones in his performance and acts as if he's on a holiday he isn't enjoying much. However, the film itself displays a fair amount of imagination, considering the limited situations, and is now something of a cult movie.
It's a gorgeous looking picture, (the DoP was Gianni Di Venanzo), with one of the most beautiful women ever to grace a movie, Ursula Andress, in the lead but despite being 'futuristic' it's now very much a period piece like most other films from 'the swinging sixties'. The male lead is a slumming Marcello Mastroianni who phones in his performance and acts as if he's on a holiday he isn't enjoying much. However, the film itself displays a fair amount of imagination, considering the limited situations, and is now something of a cult movie.
Sheckley, not stirred
petra_ste10 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Robert Sheckley's The Seventh Victim is one of those short stories which, along with The Veldt, Sentry and The Test, made dystopian science fiction one of my favorite genres as a teen.
La Decima Vittima turns this terrifying tale of a future where murder becomes a social game into a campy farce. A few clever bits aside (probably courtesy of satirist Ennio Flaiano, who has a writing credit), this feels like Blade Runner lampooned by Austin Powers.
Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress costar. Director Elio Petri nailed the oppressive atmosphere appropriate for Sheckley's classic... but did so in a different movie (his remarkable Indagine Su Un Cittadino Al Di Sopra Di Ogni Sospetto).
At least La Decima Vittima shows how brilliant Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 adaptation is: to see how terribly wrong it could have gone, you need to look no further than this.
5/10
La Decima Vittima turns this terrifying tale of a future where murder becomes a social game into a campy farce. A few clever bits aside (probably courtesy of satirist Ennio Flaiano, who has a writing credit), this feels like Blade Runner lampooned by Austin Powers.
Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress costar. Director Elio Petri nailed the oppressive atmosphere appropriate for Sheckley's classic... but did so in a different movie (his remarkable Indagine Su Un Cittadino Al Di Sopra Di Ogni Sospetto).
At least La Decima Vittima shows how brilliant Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 adaptation is: to see how terribly wrong it could have gone, you need to look no further than this.
5/10
It's an Italian Sex Farce, really, but it's also a fine sci-fi and pop art fantasy
dhermanson-111 August 2006
The more serious you get about this movie, the more you are missing the point. It's an Italian Sex Farce, really, but it's also a fine pop art film, and a fine science-fiction romp that would be a great double feature with Blade Runner. The review "A wonderful example of 60s pop art film-making,Italian-style", by jisenhath from New York, New York USA, really nails the essence of this social-satire sci-fi.
Like the crocodile tears the sun worshippers cry for the setting sun (satire on religion, of course, though it's also close to the excesses of the 60's hippy-dippies doing nature "for real" in 65), the movie is best taken in the vapid, mondo gellato style it revels in.
From the novel by Robert Sheckley (still a great read, too), the "shocking" hunt takes a swipe at the media circus and boredom of excess, while visually reveling in it. The fashion, style and beauty of both Elsa Martinelli and Ursula Andress are a joy, while Marcello works his casual nonchalance and easy timing as the Italian sophisticate at ease with multiple meanings. That's come to pass, hasn't it, as we read from this computer on a network spanning the world. Is this a cult we are a part of? If so, don't cry, but laugh. Like this film does.
Cheesy one review says... no, cheesy is when the film attempts something and does not succeed through taste, budget or in-ineptitude. Opera is not cheesy, but it is ornate, over-the- top and hyper. So is this film. It's space opera in the operatic sense of La Scala.
It's spun gold, and a fine bookend to Marcello's 60's sex romps like Cassanova 70. (done in '65 too, a good year for vintage Marcello). Asti Spumante, anyone?
Like the crocodile tears the sun worshippers cry for the setting sun (satire on religion, of course, though it's also close to the excesses of the 60's hippy-dippies doing nature "for real" in 65), the movie is best taken in the vapid, mondo gellato style it revels in.
From the novel by Robert Sheckley (still a great read, too), the "shocking" hunt takes a swipe at the media circus and boredom of excess, while visually reveling in it. The fashion, style and beauty of both Elsa Martinelli and Ursula Andress are a joy, while Marcello works his casual nonchalance and easy timing as the Italian sophisticate at ease with multiple meanings. That's come to pass, hasn't it, as we read from this computer on a network spanning the world. Is this a cult we are a part of? If so, don't cry, but laugh. Like this film does.
Cheesy one review says... no, cheesy is when the film attempts something and does not succeed through taste, budget or in-ineptitude. Opera is not cheesy, but it is ornate, over-the- top and hyper. So is this film. It's space opera in the operatic sense of La Scala.
It's spun gold, and a fine bookend to Marcello's 60's sex romps like Cassanova 70. (done in '65 too, a good year for vintage Marcello). Asti Spumante, anyone?
Kitsch fun.
garethcrook14 August 2021
I always enjoy 1960s ideas on what the future holds. This is a kind of proto Purge. As a replacement for war, society has devised the "Big Hunt". Legalised violence. People are encouraged to take part in hunts, sometimes the hunter, sometimes the hunted. Survive 10 rounds and there's cash in it. It could be quite edgy with that premise, but no. This is the 60s so it's a romantic action comedy with a heavy dose of kitsch. We're introduced to Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) who dances onto screen in a skimpy silver bikini before shooting her pray with bullets from her bra. That pretty much sets the scene. This is her 9th kill, she's one more to go before she's done and wins a million dollars. It's a French/Italian production, shot in Italy, all very stylish. Cigarettes, sunglasses, sex and cool cars. Caroline's 10th victim isn't going to come easy. She's up against Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni), a pairing chosen by a supercomputer in Geneva that talks with an hysterically clipped robot voice. It's clearly trying to have a bit of fun. Echoed by the kitsch 60s europop score, although I'm not sure that's intended or just typical of the period. Caroline is approached by some TV types, who want to film and televise her grand finale, it's all brilliantly bonkers, but eeks out the idea far too long, leaving it feeling a bit thin. It's funny enough, silly enough to get away with it though. Largely down to the ridiculous sets and bad acting. The only jeopardy is that although Caroline knows who she's to kill. Marcello doesn't know who's hunting him. If he kills the wrong person he gets 30 years in jail. It would be easy if Caroline just tried to shoot him, but that's not the game and not how she's got this far. She has to trick him and lure him in, which sets up a playful game of cat and mouse with the pair as the inevitably get more tangled than either had intended. It's crap really, but a good laugh.
An outlandish Sc-ifi comedy with the greatest actors and well set in 21st century , Roma
ma-cortes3 January 2022
It's the 21st century and they have a licence to kill. There is developed a lethat game : ten participants begin the manhunt against one another and the sequential eliminatation of opponents results in one winner . Then , a gorgeous huntress (Ursula Andress) agrees to murder a "victim" (Marcello Mastroianni) to get a major TV sponsorship advert . The winner of each round is awarded with a prize and the survivor after ten rounds, wins one million dollar award . It's Murderously Funny! . The Fun Lies Dead Ahead! . The Motion Picture that gives comedy something to shoot at!. An unusual comedy about things to come... and ways to go! . A bullseye view of guns and lovers . A hilarious sex farce! - But the instinct to kill is still human...A must see for Ursula's pistol-bra scene alone! She'd love to kill him - and kill... to love him! Stunning, Shocking!! The Instinct to KILL!!
This exciting film contains action , thrills, suspense, humor with tongue-in-cheek and a little bit of violence . An unusual Sci-Fi comedy set in the more civilized world of the 21st century, there is no such thing anymore as war . A weird little Sci-Fi movie that has achieved a minor cult status thanks to droll acting from Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress and in an suspenseful , intriguing plot taken from the novel by Robert Sheckley who also wrote Condorman , Freejack, The Prize of Peril and Escape from Hell Island , being based very loosely on the novel of the same name . Set in the 21st Century, where a human vs. Human "Big Hunt" is used as an alternative to war , but things go wrong when romantic entanglements between the two protagonists complicate matters . This is amusing mess without much sense , and the setting is the near future and pop culture has embraced a killer game that is performed for keeps . Stars Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni giving sympathetic interpretations . Being accpmpanied by a fine support cast of Italian actors , such as : Elsa Martinelli , Salvo Randone , Massimo Serato , Milo Quesada , Luce Bonifassy , George Wang and brief appearances from Pier Paolo Capponi , Massimo Righi , Guido Pernice , and Jacques Herlin .
It contains an anti-climatic and unappropriate musical score by Piero Pieccioni . As well as atmospheric and colorful cinematography by cameraman Gianni Di Venanzo shot on locations from Rome : The Colosseum, Piazza Navona , Piazza di Siena, Ostia, Titanus Appia Studios, Rome, Fiumicino Airport, Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland and Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan , Pennsylvania Station, New York City, USA . This offbeat motion picture was regularly directed by Elio Petri . He was an expert on political cinema and thrillers , such as : The Assassin , Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicicion , The Working Class Goes to Heaven , We Still Kill the Old Way . Rating : 5/10 . Only for Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni fans. Rating : 5/10 . Average .
This exciting film contains action , thrills, suspense, humor with tongue-in-cheek and a little bit of violence . An unusual Sci-Fi comedy set in the more civilized world of the 21st century, there is no such thing anymore as war . A weird little Sci-Fi movie that has achieved a minor cult status thanks to droll acting from Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress and in an suspenseful , intriguing plot taken from the novel by Robert Sheckley who also wrote Condorman , Freejack, The Prize of Peril and Escape from Hell Island , being based very loosely on the novel of the same name . Set in the 21st Century, where a human vs. Human "Big Hunt" is used as an alternative to war , but things go wrong when romantic entanglements between the two protagonists complicate matters . This is amusing mess without much sense , and the setting is the near future and pop culture has embraced a killer game that is performed for keeps . Stars Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni giving sympathetic interpretations . Being accpmpanied by a fine support cast of Italian actors , such as : Elsa Martinelli , Salvo Randone , Massimo Serato , Milo Quesada , Luce Bonifassy , George Wang and brief appearances from Pier Paolo Capponi , Massimo Righi , Guido Pernice , and Jacques Herlin .
It contains an anti-climatic and unappropriate musical score by Piero Pieccioni . As well as atmospheric and colorful cinematography by cameraman Gianni Di Venanzo shot on locations from Rome : The Colosseum, Piazza Navona , Piazza di Siena, Ostia, Titanus Appia Studios, Rome, Fiumicino Airport, Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland and Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan , Pennsylvania Station, New York City, USA . This offbeat motion picture was regularly directed by Elio Petri . He was an expert on political cinema and thrillers , such as : The Assassin , Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicicion , The Working Class Goes to Heaven , We Still Kill the Old Way . Rating : 5/10 . Only for Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni fans. Rating : 5/10 . Average .
A wonderful example of 60s pop art filmmaking,Italian-style.
jisenhath3 June 2000
As a wonderful example of 60s pop art filmmaking, Elio Petri has taken many of the decade's most popular culture crazes (the Bond films, Courreges fashions, discotheque jazz, etc.) and used them with great success to give a plausible look to a highly improbable (in 1965!) future world. Petri's digs at Mad Ave advertising and humanity's relentless pursuit of fame and money (no matter the price) are on-target, and his delight in mocking societal idiosyncrasies (the sun worshipers) is priceless. However, at the heart of The Tenth Victim is the old-fashioned battle-of-the-sexes plot (still very popular in the mid-60s), and yet Petri has the upper hand by his spoofing of the romantic-comedy genre and giving us instead a deliciously amusing trifle that is fun to watch for its joking attitude towards everything it depicts, including Marcello and Ursula! To one reviewer who found it outdated, it must be remembered that this film was made 35 years ago and so it naturally has nothing to do with today's standards - and why should it? That's like dismissing Griffith's Intolerance because it's a silent film!
Almost a glimpse into our future
theowinthrop4 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I was only eleven when my family went to see this film and another foreign one (I think it was JULIETTA OF THE SPIRITS, but I'm not sure). The film is simple - in a futuristic world there is an international competition that one can join, where if you succeed in killing ten competitors (all trained assassins) you can get permanent immunity and you can live at ease with 10 million dollars. The murders you commit are shown on a program on international television. The winners become instant celebrities.
The anti-hero and anti-heroine in the story are Marcello Mastrianni and Ursala Andress. They find that they are the next target in each other's way - Marcello is only one away from victory, and Ursala is on her way up. Unfortunately they fall in love. So what will they do - how will they get their points to win the game and how will they settle with each other.
It is a pretty movie - among other things I recall Marcello's hair was blond in this film. Very unusual and striking (he usually is wearing dark sun glasses and the affect makes him rather threatening looking).
Despite the grimness of the situation, it is a black comedy - on par with John Huston's PRIZZI HONOR two decades later. But Huston's film ends with the lovers (both Mafia hit "men") having to confront each other in a real battle to the death. It is not a televised contest that ends with a killing.
There are some great moments of mayhem - we see Marcello at the start working as a valet for a man who is an equestrian. He helps the man get dressed for a ride. The man has just put on some well polished boots (Marcello had been polishing them when we see him). The man is suspicious, but when Marcello leaves the room the man preens himself before a mirror - he clicks his heels, and is blown to smithereens.
THE TENTH VICTIM was set up as a science fiction tale of the future. It is one of the few that managed to predict a trend of the future - one that has not reached it's conclusion yet. The concept of the televised contest has reached the screen with such "reality shows" as THE APPRENTICE and SURVIVOR. Nobody has died in any of these shows as part of their attractions, but THE SURVIVOR has contestants voted off the island every week. One hopes they won't try to get that last drop of realism in the future - too much blood involved, and not (perhaps) done with the style that Marcello and Ursala brought to the screen forty years ago.
The anti-hero and anti-heroine in the story are Marcello Mastrianni and Ursala Andress. They find that they are the next target in each other's way - Marcello is only one away from victory, and Ursala is on her way up. Unfortunately they fall in love. So what will they do - how will they get their points to win the game and how will they settle with each other.
It is a pretty movie - among other things I recall Marcello's hair was blond in this film. Very unusual and striking (he usually is wearing dark sun glasses and the affect makes him rather threatening looking).
Despite the grimness of the situation, it is a black comedy - on par with John Huston's PRIZZI HONOR two decades later. But Huston's film ends with the lovers (both Mafia hit "men") having to confront each other in a real battle to the death. It is not a televised contest that ends with a killing.
There are some great moments of mayhem - we see Marcello at the start working as a valet for a man who is an equestrian. He helps the man get dressed for a ride. The man has just put on some well polished boots (Marcello had been polishing them when we see him). The man is suspicious, but when Marcello leaves the room the man preens himself before a mirror - he clicks his heels, and is blown to smithereens.
THE TENTH VICTIM was set up as a science fiction tale of the future. It is one of the few that managed to predict a trend of the future - one that has not reached it's conclusion yet. The concept of the televised contest has reached the screen with such "reality shows" as THE APPRENTICE and SURVIVOR. Nobody has died in any of these shows as part of their attractions, but THE SURVIVOR has contestants voted off the island every week. One hopes they won't try to get that last drop of realism in the future - too much blood involved, and not (perhaps) done with the style that Marcello and Ursala brought to the screen forty years ago.
Drink Ming Tea. You'll live longer.
Hey_Sweden23 March 2017
Based on Robert Sheckley's story "The 7th Victim", this film offers a groovy European mid-60s vision of the "future". The authorities have figured out a way to channel the violent nature of humans into something profitable: legalized "murder hunts". There are ten that each person must survive, either as a killer or a victim. The rewards are substantial. Ursula Andress is cast as the very successful American player Caroline Meredith, who is tagged to go after cunning, suave Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni).
"The 10th Victim" is pretty interesting for the time it was made, and it does indeed work as a forerunner to entertainment such as "The Running Man". It may also remind viewers of the more recent "Purge" series. It's a fun satire, with plenty of amusing visuals, not to mention a hip soundtrack. It's not for people who prefer lots of action, because there isn't much to speak of here. It's also not particularly gory - people do get shot, but you don't ever really see bullet wounds. Director Elio Petri, also one of the screenwriters, makes it zip along effectively, with enough rapid fire dialogue to sustain its pace.
The good supporting cast includes Elsa Martinelli as Marcellos' disgruntled girlfriend Olga, Luce Bonifassy as his soon to be ex-wife, Massimo Serato as his helpful lawyer, and Salvo Randone as the professor. The two leads are charismatic, and Ursula looks great in various revealing outfits.
It might not be to all tastes, but it's fairly colorful entertainment for those who dig its style.
Seven out of 10.
"The 10th Victim" is pretty interesting for the time it was made, and it does indeed work as a forerunner to entertainment such as "The Running Man". It may also remind viewers of the more recent "Purge" series. It's a fun satire, with plenty of amusing visuals, not to mention a hip soundtrack. It's not for people who prefer lots of action, because there isn't much to speak of here. It's also not particularly gory - people do get shot, but you don't ever really see bullet wounds. Director Elio Petri, also one of the screenwriters, makes it zip along effectively, with enough rapid fire dialogue to sustain its pace.
The good supporting cast includes Elsa Martinelli as Marcellos' disgruntled girlfriend Olga, Luce Bonifassy as his soon to be ex-wife, Massimo Serato as his helpful lawyer, and Salvo Randone as the professor. The two leads are charismatic, and Ursula looks great in various revealing outfits.
It might not be to all tastes, but it's fairly colorful entertainment for those who dig its style.
Seven out of 10.
FUN FROLIC...BRIGHT ULTRA-COLORFUL POP-ART FARCE ...WILD 60'S ROMP
LeonLouisRicci5 August 2021
Marcello and Ursula are the Stars in this Italian Sci-Fi Satire.
But Almost Take a Back-Seat to the Wild and Far-Out Colors, Costumes, Sets, and Fractured Art-Displays.
Marriage, Aging, TV, Advertising, Music, Comic-Books and Virtually All of Pop-Culture are Given the Treatment in this Fun, Frolicking Black-Comedy.
Psychedelic, Swirling Colors Bathe Surreal Sets and Situations that Range from Tongue-in-Cheek to the Darkest of Comedy.
A Murder Ticket with 10 Punch-Holes and You are the Winner.
There are Multiple-Murders and the Killings are Bloodless and Swept Aside Like the Daily Newspapers.
It Certainly is an Eye-Full with a Fancy Counter-Culture Display.
Beautiful to Look-At and a Distinct Swath of 1960's Style Amplified into a Futuristic Time-Slip.
Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress are Gorgeous Actors.
With Their Whimsical Personas and Charm They Sell this Stuff as Easy as a 60sec TV Commercial.
For Those that Seek a Good Time with the Strange and Unusual...
Worth a Watch.
But Almost Take a Back-Seat to the Wild and Far-Out Colors, Costumes, Sets, and Fractured Art-Displays.
Marriage, Aging, TV, Advertising, Music, Comic-Books and Virtually All of Pop-Culture are Given the Treatment in this Fun, Frolicking Black-Comedy.
Psychedelic, Swirling Colors Bathe Surreal Sets and Situations that Range from Tongue-in-Cheek to the Darkest of Comedy.
A Murder Ticket with 10 Punch-Holes and You are the Winner.
There are Multiple-Murders and the Killings are Bloodless and Swept Aside Like the Daily Newspapers.
It Certainly is an Eye-Full with a Fancy Counter-Culture Display.
Beautiful to Look-At and a Distinct Swath of 1960's Style Amplified into a Futuristic Time-Slip.
Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress are Gorgeous Actors.
With Their Whimsical Personas and Charm They Sell this Stuff as Easy as a 60sec TV Commercial.
For Those that Seek a Good Time with the Strange and Unusual...
Worth a Watch.
Comic books in The Tenth Victim
whitebook1 December 2006
The other commentators have got the sense and the beauty of The Tenth Victim just about right. What I have to add is a footnote.
The movie is remarkably prescient. In one of the early scenes, Mastroianni's character is sitting indolently at home when his goods are repossessed. He doesn't mind the furniture, etc., but he is visibly upset, even moved, that his collection of comic books is being taken away from him. Seeing it at the time, it struck me as a little over the top (as much of the movie aims to be). But it also prefigures, some four decades later, the seriousness with which we take comics of all kinds, manga, and "graphic novels." Who would have guessed in 1965? I imagine people, especially young ones, seeing this film for the first time, would not find the scene funny or satirical. Times change, don't they?
The movie is remarkably prescient. In one of the early scenes, Mastroianni's character is sitting indolently at home when his goods are repossessed. He doesn't mind the furniture, etc., but he is visibly upset, even moved, that his collection of comic books is being taken away from him. Seeing it at the time, it struck me as a little over the top (as much of the movie aims to be). But it also prefigures, some four decades later, the seriousness with which we take comics of all kinds, manga, and "graphic novels." Who would have guessed in 1965? I imagine people, especially young ones, seeing this film for the first time, would not find the scene funny or satirical. Times change, don't they?
One of the best SF movies ever made
inframan23 September 1999
There are always some people too wrapped up in themselves to pick up on the spectacular ideas & images in this movie, though it's hard to believe. The look & concept of the "future" in this movie is one of the most original in film, from the s/m club to the sexual roadside rest stops to having to hide your parents because it's a law to turn them in after a certain age _ but above all _ the concept of the hunt itself. Absolutely brilliant!!!
Worth a look
bensonmum24 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
- In the future, murder is legal as long as you follow the rules. Killers and victims compete against one another for cash prizes. Once you have survived being either a killer or victim ten times, you win $1 million. The trouble arises when the pair fall in love.
- Marcello Mastroianni and Ursila Andress star as a killer and victim pitted against one another. I've never thought much of Andress as an actress and this movie does nothing to change that opinion.
- The most memorable scene is the first kill of the movie. An unknown killer chases Andress into some sort of nightclub/restaurant. When he enters, he doesn't recognize her because she is performing in a costume with a different hair color. As she dances in front of the killer, she lets loose with the machine gun bikini top. As Austin Powers would say, Machine Gun Jomblies.
It has a fantastic idea and good leads--but that's it...
moonspinner5530 July 2006
In the 21st Century, a game of humans-hunting-humans provides the outlet for bloodlust and vicarious entertainment that our population is craving. Here's a concept that needs a great deal of style and wit to come off successfully, but the dubbed, Italian-made "The 10th Victim" has very little of either. Ursula Andress seduces Marcello Mastroianni, but she's really just setting him up to be killed, with some campy lines between the two: as Marcello attempts to make love to the curvy Ursula, she barks, "Don't bother--I am an iceberg!" The subplot about Marcello's disgruntled ex-wives is silly and the bit about the sun-worshipers fighting with the moon-worshipers doesn't come off because of the static handling. Overall, an interesting attempt but a failed execution. ** from ****
Dazzling Romantic Comedy Thriller and a precursor of modern "reality" TV
eschetic-22 August 2009
In 1965 this edgy Italian film (a/k/a La decima vittima) inspired by Hugo and Nebula nominated American "science fiction" writer Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story in Galaxy Magazine, "The Seventh Victim" (that title having already been taken in films by a successful 1943 thriller, the ante was upped for this version), seemed outrageous and challenging in its assertion of our desensitization to death and passing reference to age issues (more fully developed in 1965's LOGAN'S RUN (in turn based on William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson's 1957 science fiction novel). So successful was the stylish film of his short story that Sheckley himself published a full novelization of THE 10TH VICTIM in 1966.
Most "stylish" examinations of a future "strangely like our own only cooler" date faster than yesterday's fish, but with the long overdue 2009 DVD release of the film, it's amazing how still up to date and modern this violent romantic comedy (from some angles it is a thriller, but a thriller raised to new levels because of a wicked sense of humor) actually seems - although in 1965 the film makers could not imagine an Italy that allowed divorce or an economy so bad that a million dollars would seem like a million lire.
The Piero Piccioni jazz score still dazzles - if an adapter could find a "live" equivalent for the cinematic finale to the movie (the film's weakest point) this could be the basis for a great modern musical. Cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo's use of New York (the ruins of the old Penn Station and the World Trade Center construction site) and Rome (the Colosseum, Temple of Venus among other sites) ground the story while setting up its eroticism for the performances Director Elio Petri gets from a uniformly wonderful cast.
It isn't just the iconic first murder Ursula Andress pulls off during the credits (as Jacques Herlin recites "The Rules" of The Big Hunt) with her killer brassiere, it's the shrewd juxtaposition of the "computer matched" hunter and victims and social issues that are a constant undercurrent and overlay in the film as we watch Andress and Marcello Mastroianni perform their particular humorously over-planned dance of death. We're not long into this delicious film before we realize how it set up and surpassed all the so called "reality shows" polluting television today. "Voting someone off the island" or "out of the house" or "off a "talent" competition" is just another form of The Big Hunt" with all of us guiltily salivating at the vicarious "thrill of victory and agony of defeat."
As well as the film itself holds up, there's a second layer of interest on the film for those willing to go beyond the usually preferable UNdubbed version (the performances in the original Italian are wonderful). If you turn on the fine English language subtitles AND the unusually well done English language DUBBED soundtrack on the DVD, it's fascinating to note that they don't match! Sometimes the literal translation of the subtitles is dramatically better, but surprising frequency, the dubbing script - geared to fit as tightly as possible to the movement of the actor's lips - is superior. Taking both in enjoying the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences actually improves an already wonderfully layered film.
This is a must see for discerning fans of classic science fiction, romantic comedy or just plain intelligent film making and story telling willing to go beyond the "usual."
Most "stylish" examinations of a future "strangely like our own only cooler" date faster than yesterday's fish, but with the long overdue 2009 DVD release of the film, it's amazing how still up to date and modern this violent romantic comedy (from some angles it is a thriller, but a thriller raised to new levels because of a wicked sense of humor) actually seems - although in 1965 the film makers could not imagine an Italy that allowed divorce or an economy so bad that a million dollars would seem like a million lire.
The Piero Piccioni jazz score still dazzles - if an adapter could find a "live" equivalent for the cinematic finale to the movie (the film's weakest point) this could be the basis for a great modern musical. Cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo's use of New York (the ruins of the old Penn Station and the World Trade Center construction site) and Rome (the Colosseum, Temple of Venus among other sites) ground the story while setting up its eroticism for the performances Director Elio Petri gets from a uniformly wonderful cast.
It isn't just the iconic first murder Ursula Andress pulls off during the credits (as Jacques Herlin recites "The Rules" of The Big Hunt) with her killer brassiere, it's the shrewd juxtaposition of the "computer matched" hunter and victims and social issues that are a constant undercurrent and overlay in the film as we watch Andress and Marcello Mastroianni perform their particular humorously over-planned dance of death. We're not long into this delicious film before we realize how it set up and surpassed all the so called "reality shows" polluting television today. "Voting someone off the island" or "out of the house" or "off a "talent" competition" is just another form of The Big Hunt" with all of us guiltily salivating at the vicarious "thrill of victory and agony of defeat."
As well as the film itself holds up, there's a second layer of interest on the film for those willing to go beyond the usually preferable UNdubbed version (the performances in the original Italian are wonderful). If you turn on the fine English language subtitles AND the unusually well done English language DUBBED soundtrack on the DVD, it's fascinating to note that they don't match! Sometimes the literal translation of the subtitles is dramatically better, but surprising frequency, the dubbing script - geared to fit as tightly as possible to the movement of the actor's lips - is superior. Taking both in enjoying the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences actually improves an already wonderfully layered film.
This is a must see for discerning fans of classic science fiction, romantic comedy or just plain intelligent film making and story telling willing to go beyond the "usual."
60's Pop Art On Film
iquine8 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
(Flash Review)
Pop Art in visual and Pop Art in concept. In a surreal and modern looking future, Italian city has a creative solution to eliminate violence from society; legalize murder! For those with a thirst for violence and killing, you could join a televised contest where if you survive long enough and are very crafty and sly you could win one million dollars, thereby getting the violence off the streets and contained within the contest boundaries. This is far from a gory- fest, more a novel plot concept with some twists that fits perfectly within the wild and bold 60's fashions. With interesting cinematography throughout, this film sloooowly builds tension and you eventually are presented with a decent payoff. After storming the world as James Bond's first Bond Girl, Ursula Andress carries the film. Intentionally campy, this is what one would expect from a unique and stylish 60's Italian film.
Pop Art in visual and Pop Art in concept. In a surreal and modern looking future, Italian city has a creative solution to eliminate violence from society; legalize murder! For those with a thirst for violence and killing, you could join a televised contest where if you survive long enough and are very crafty and sly you could win one million dollars, thereby getting the violence off the streets and contained within the contest boundaries. This is far from a gory- fest, more a novel plot concept with some twists that fits perfectly within the wild and bold 60's fashions. With interesting cinematography throughout, this film sloooowly builds tension and you eventually are presented with a decent payoff. After storming the world as James Bond's first Bond Girl, Ursula Andress carries the film. Intentionally campy, this is what one would expect from a unique and stylish 60's Italian film.
Dystopian rom com
Leofwine_draca13 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Just a shout-out to anyone tempted by Shameless's release of THE 10TH VICTIM (1965, original title La decima vittima), an Italian science fiction film adaptation of a Robert Sheckley novel. They've made this look like a good "hunting humans" thriller by the cover and write-up, perhaps an early forerunner to BATTLE ROYALE, TURKEY SHOOT or THE HUNGER GAMES. But it's not. It has a great set-up and a handful of fun, groovy action scenes as everyday situations are interrupted by a couple of figures running in to engage in gun battles, but in the end this turns out to be more like a romantic comedy!
It's a colourful, bright and vivid film with style to spare, camp in the same way as BARBARELLA or other fare from the era. Lots of stand-out fashion and interesting faces in the form of Marcello Mastroianni and SHE starlet Ursula Andress. Even an advertising campaign for 'Ming Tea', later borrowed by Mike Mikers for an AUSTIN POWERS song. The set-up and first half is engaging and sells this dystopian future well, but once the hunter and victim meet, it stalls and gets less interesting, still typically Italian but with less bite and visceral impact. Almost a battle of sexes in the end, but missing the danger we felt at the outset. Only a 5/10 from me.
It's a colourful, bright and vivid film with style to spare, camp in the same way as BARBARELLA or other fare from the era. Lots of stand-out fashion and interesting faces in the form of Marcello Mastroianni and SHE starlet Ursula Andress. Even an advertising campaign for 'Ming Tea', later borrowed by Mike Mikers for an AUSTIN POWERS song. The set-up and first half is engaging and sells this dystopian future well, but once the hunter and victim meet, it stalls and gets less interesting, still typically Italian but with less bite and visceral impact. Almost a battle of sexes in the end, but missing the danger we felt at the outset. Only a 5/10 from me.
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