Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Following in his father's footsteps, Albert Pierrepoint becomes one of Britain's most prolific executioners, hiding his identity as a grocery deliveryman. But when his ambition to be the best inadvertently exposes his gruesome secret, he becomes a minor celebrity & faces a public outcry against the practice of hanging. Based on true events.
匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedFebruary 21, 2025
This is the story of one of Britain’s last hangmen, Albert Pierrepoint (1905-92), admirably played by Timothy Spall. It’s also a study in shame and pride. The shame is social and moral. Socially the ‘profession’ is abhorrent. No respectable person would choose to enter it. Morally, it’s guilt inflicting. Judicial judgement says Pierrepoint is not a murderer, but his conscience may suggest otherwise. In the film we see his sleepless nights, so we know he is not made of stone. Pride? Possibly a peculiarity of Pierrepoint himself due to family circumstances. He comes from a line of executioners (father and uncle). It’s in the family blood, so to speak. Traditional and conservative as he is, he means to carry on, even as the profession is dying out in Britain. He’s a relic and he knows it, but he’s also stubborn. This is what I do for a living, he thinks, and he does it well. He’s fast and efficient, no fuss, fumbling, hesitation (proud also to know the condemned die quickly, their suffering soon over). In a strange way, he’s humane. At any rate, he won’t be put out to pasture just because the times and attitudes are changing.