The Tenth Man (1988) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Graham Greene (novel)
Lee Langley (teleplay)

Release Date:

4 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Based on the novel by Graham Greene of the same name, this is a story of a French advocate Chavel who...

Plot Keywords:

French | Death | Firing Squad | Identity | Deception

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 1 win

Cast

Anthony Hopkins	...	Jean Louis Chavel
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Therese Mangeot
Derek Jacobi	...	The Imposter
Cyril Cusack	...	The Priest
Brenda Bruce	...	Madame Mangeot (Michel and Therese's mother)
Timothy Watson	...	Michel Mangeot
Paul Rogers	...	Breton
Peter Jonfield	...	Roche
Geoffrey Bayldon	...	Elderly Clerk
Michael Attwell	...	Krogh
Jim Carter	...	Pierre
Robert Morgan	...	German Officer
Patrice Valota	...	Voisin
John Bennett	...	Jules
Alan Rossett	...	Prisoner No. 3

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:12 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

CBS Entertainment Production

One of Anthony Hopkins greatest

One of my favourite movies. This is a TV-movie, so it isn't so widely known as it should be. That's a shame, because this is one of Anthony Hopkins best movies ever.

In this World War 2 drama, Anthony Hopkins plays a French lawyer, Jean Louis Chavel, who is sent to prison by the nazis. One day a nazi-officer comes into the cell and tells the inmates that three men is going to be executed (they are about 20 to 30 men in the cell). Just for fun the nazi officer command that they themselves will have the honor to choose which three of them who will face death. They decide to have a drawing by lot. They mark three of the lots with a X and draw... Chavel gets the last X in the shoe. He panics and offer his lot together with his house and money to anyone who is willing to take it and die instead of him. He doesn't want to die. A poor lung-diseased man who is facing natural death accepts it. He is going to die anyway and he wants the money and the house for his poor sister and mother. When the execution day comes, Chavel suddenly regrets everything. He realizes what he's done. He has bought his life. He feels guilty and ashamed. He is a coward and pityfull man. He tells the young man that the deal is off. It was his lot and he is the person who should die. But the man refuses. A deal is a deal. From the barred window Chavel witness the execution with great guilt. This is wrong. He is the one who suppose to stand there in front of the firing squad...

This is a movie about man's greatest questions through history: Who has the most right to live? About psychological remorse and vain. How can you go on with a life when the only thing you feel is guilt and selfhatred...?