''The 10th Victim'' ( it, La decima vittima) is a 1965

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstel ...

directed and co-written by Elio Petri, starring

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

Ursula Andress Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss-German actress, former model and sex symbol who has appeared in American, British and Italian films. Her breakthrough role was as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No'' (1962 ...

Elsa Martinelli Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935 – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and fashion model. Life and career Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family. In 1953, she was discovered by Roberto Capu ...

, and

Salvo Randone Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor. Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little we ...

. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

between Italy and France, it is based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story " Seventh Victim". Taking place in the year 2079 in the aftermath of

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

, the film's focus is on a government-endorsed program known as "The Big Hunt", whereby contestants from around the world act as "hunters" and "victims" in two-person battles to the death as a means of avoiding mass warfare. The plot follows veteran Big Hunt contestants Caroline Meredith (Andress) and Marcello Poletti (Mastroianni), who are respectively assigned the roles of hunter and victim for one such confrontation, which is complicated by their budding romance. Like Petri's other films, ''The 10th Victim'' is a work of socio-political satire, while also combining science fiction themes with conventions of the ''

commedia all'italiana Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mar ...

'' genre. An avid reader of science fiction, Petri began work on an adaptation of Sheckley's story in 1961; producer

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cine ...

came onboard the project due to the involvement of Mastroianni. A variety of screenwriters worked on the script to varying degrees without receiving an onscreen credit, including Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Nate Monaster and Ernesto Gastaldi. Ponti's lack of interest in the science fiction genre led to his mandating of more comedic elements in the story against Petri's wishes, including altering its original, pessimistic ending. Backed by financial support from Joseph E. Levine's

Embassy Pictures Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as '' The Graduate'', '' The Prod ...

, filming took place primarily on location in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and New York City from June to September 1964; produced at the height of the pop art movement in Italy, Petri sought to create a vision of the future that juxtaposes that style's imagery with Rome's ancient and modern architectural structures, such as the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

and the

EUR district The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

. Upon release, ''The 10th Victim'' performed below Ponti's expectations in Italy and received mixed reviews from critics. In the decades since its initial release, the film has garnered a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

, and its imagery has been referenced or parodied in other films, notably the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...

'' franchise; it is also considered to be a forerunner to works depicting televised fights to the death, such as ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...

''. A

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film, written by Sheckley, was published in 1966, this was followed by two sequels, ''

Victim Prime ''Victim Prime'' is a novel by Robert Sheckley published in 1987. Plot summary ''Victim Prime'' is a novel in which the deadly Hunt is played in a resort in a dystopian 2092. Reception Dave Langford reviewed ''Victim Prime'' for ''White Dwarf'' #8 ...

'' and ''Hunter/Victim'' in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Although several attempts to produce a remake of ''The 10th Victim'' have been announced, none have entered production.

Plot

In the 21st century,

has recently ended. To prevent a fourth war, individuals with violent tendencies get a chance to kill in "The Big Hunt", the most popular form of entertainment in the world, which also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunters and five as the victims. The survivor of ten rounds becomes extremely wealthy and retires. Caroline Meredith is a huntress who has just killed her ninth victim and is looking for a tenth. To maximize financial gain, Meredith wants to get a perfect kill in front of the cameras as she has negotiated a major

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

from the Ming Tea Company. Marcello Poletti is assigned as the victim; his winnings from six kills have already been spent by his mistress, Olga, and his ex-wife, Lidia. Caroline goes to Rome and impersonates a reporter whose assignment is to study the sexual preoccupations of Italian men. She requests an interview with Marcello at the Temple of Venus. Suspicious, Marcello arranges for Caroline to be eaten by a crocodile before the cameras of a competing television company, but she escapes. Caroline lures Marcello to the beach and convinces him that she is in love with him. She drugs Marcello and hauls him back to the Temple of Venus. Caroline shoots Marcello in front of the television cameras, but Marcello survives because he has loaded the gun with blanks. He then shoots her but she is saved by her bulletproof armor plate. Marcello and Caroline decide to escape from the Big Hunt and go on a plane, where they decide to get married. The movie ends with the pilot shooting flowers to the two.

Differences from the original story

The original short story was written from the point of view of a man hunting his seventh target, a woman, whereas in the movie she is the hunter. He finds her apparently defenceless sitting in a café. Talking to her, she tells him how she is new to the game but could not bear to kill her own target, and now expects to die. The hunter falls in love with his victim, as in the movie, and eventually reveals who he is. She has tricked him; she shoots him, joining the ranks of the "Tens". The story was adapted for radio on ''

X Minus One ''X Minus One'' is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American a ...

'' in 1957.

Cast

as Marcello Polletti *

as Caroline Meredith *

as Olga *

as Professor * Massimo Serato as Lawyer Rossi *

Milo Quesada Milo Quesada, born as Raúl García Alonso, (16 April 1930 – 12 December 2012) was an Argentine actor. He started his career in Argentina with the movie ''Cristol de Hombres'' and other minor roles. He then moved to Spain, where his career ex ...

as Rudi * Luce Bonifassy as Lidia Poletti * George Wang as Chinese Hunter * Evi Rigano as Victim * Walter Williams as Martin * Richard Armstrong as Cole *

Anita Sanders Anita Sanders (born 1942) is a retired Swedish actress and photomodel who was active in the Italian films of the 1960s and 1970s. Career Sanders began her film career with a minor role in '' La fuga'' in 1964, followed by a topless appearance in ...

as Relaxatorium Hostess * Mickey Knox as Chet *

Jacques Herlin Jacques Herlin (17 August 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a French character actor. Born in Paris as Jacques de Jouette, he appeared in an impressive number of films from the early sixties. He was also active on stage and on television. He died i ...

as Masoch Club Owner * Wolfgang Hillinger as Baron Von Aschenberg

Release

''The 10th Victim'' was released in Italy on December 3, 1965. The film grossed a little over 620 million '' lire'' in Italy upon its theatrical release. The film was distributed abroad, including in the United States and Canada by

in late December 1965.

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds a score of 80% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 7.35/10. In contemporary reviews, the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...

'' praised the visuals of the film, but stated that "the film is never quite as much fun as it should be, possibly because of rather ponderous dubbing and possibly because imaginative camera angles cannot totally make up for lapses in narrative."

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted a "wildly imaginative plot" but declared the film overall to be "a clever but patently self-conscious exercise ... The cleverness is so insistent that it soon becomes excessive and absurd, and the gamesmanship of the satire becomes too cute, too much a bore." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' found the film superior to

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's '' Alphaville'', praising both Mastroianni and Andress, as well as

and Massimo Serato. The review also noted the cinematography of

Gianni di Venanzo Gianni Di Venanzo (18 December 1920, Teramo, Abruzzo – 3 February 1966, Rome), was an Italian cinematographer. Di Venanzo was one of the leading Italian post-war cinematographers with the unique distinction to be part of the neo-realist, po ...

Richard L. Coe Richard Livingston Coe (New York City, November 8, 1914 – Washington, D.C., November 12, 1995) was a theater and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than forty years. Coe became known as one of the most influential theater critics outsi ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' wrote that the film is "not handled so crisply as the material promises", finding that director Elio Petri "did not find quite the exact, cohesive tone such material demands. The result is curiously pedestrian."

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

of ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' described Sheckley's novelization as "a reasonably good chase novel" which would, nonetheless, disappoint readers, whether they wanted a literary version of the film's Italian satire and symbolism or the 'chilling futurama of legalized manslaughter' the cover promised.

In popular culture

The movie is an international

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

whose wild action and sexy style has influenced a generation of movies, from '' Death Race 2000 (1975 film)'' to '' The Running Man'' and the ''

'' series. It was also the first movie to feature the reality TV death game theme, which was later used in other works such as '' Battle Royale'', '' Series 7: The Contenders'', and ''

''. In the early 1990s, comedian and actor

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...

, along with musicians

Susanna Hoffs Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as a co-founder of the pop-rock band The Bangles. Hoffs founded The Bangles (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson. They r ...

and

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

, started a faux British 1960s band whose members adopted personas from that era. The band named itself

Ming Tea Ming Tea is a faux retro- mod band consisting of: * Mike Myers (as Austin Powers, lead vocals, guitar) * Susanna Hoffs (as Gillian Shagwell, lead guitar and backing vocals) * Matthew Sweet (as Sid Belvedere, bass and backing vocals) * Stuart J ...

, after the company that sponsored Andress' character in the film.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:10th Victim, The 1965 films 1960s dystopian films 1960s science fiction films Films set in 2079 French science fiction films Italian science fiction films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Elio Petri Girls with guns films Films based on short fiction Films about snuff films Adaptations of works by Robert Sheckley Films produced by Carlo Ponti Films about death games Films about hunters 1960s chase films Films scored by Piero Piccioni 1960s Italian films 1960s French films Films about World War III