Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan
A large, somewhat awkward man of simple manners, Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall) is like just any other decent, working-class fellow when we first encounter him.
Then he goes for an interview at the local prison to become a hangman. According to Pierrepoint’s mother, the same job had turned his father into an alcoholic and hustled him into an early grave, yet Pierrepoint feels he has the unique skills to succeed.
He rises quickly through the ranks of executioners and becomes famous for the speed of his work. His career reaches a pinnacle when he is personally called over by General Montgomery to execute the Nuremberg criminals after World War II.
His extraordinary work in dispatching hundreds of prisoners of war makes him a media star in Britain. But his experiences in Germany change Pierrepoint. He becomes increasingly unsure of his moral imperatives at the same time that abolitionists begin a fierce campaign to end hanging.
One of Britain’s most impressive actors, Spall gives a breathtaking performance as Pierrepoint, Great Britain’s best-known public executioner and last official Chief Hangman. He captures the man’s gradual change from confident and capable to wiser and conflicted with extraordinary subtlety. Juliet Stevenson is a lovely counterpoint as his wife; her tough response to Pierrepoint’s later dilemma delivers a chilling reminder that human life consists of considerably more than statistics.
At a time when frontier justice seems to be making a comeback, this gentle reminder of the burden of conscience that the death penalty places on society is most welcome indeed.
