The 10th Victim

The 10th Victim
Italian film poster
La Decima vittima
Directed byElio Petri
Screenplay by
Based on"Seventh Victim"
by Robert Sheckley[1]
Produced byCarlo Ponti[1]
Starring
CinematographyGianni Di Venanzo[1]
Edited byRuggero Mastroianni[1]
Music byPiero Piccioni[1]
Production
companies
  • C.C. Champion
  • Les Films Concordia[1]
Distributed byInterfilm[2]
Release dates
  • 3 December 1965 (1965-12-03) (Italy)
  • 10 February 1967 (1967-02-10) (France)
Running time
92 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • France[1]
Languages
  • Italian
  • English[3]
Budget₤632 million[4]
Box office₤620 million[5]

The 10th Victim (Italian: La decima vittima) is a 1965 science fiction film directed and co-written by Elio Petri, starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress, Elsa Martinelli, and Salvo Randone. An international co-production 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, 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 genre.[6]

Upon release, The 10th Victim performed below expectations in Italy and received mixed reviews from critics.[6] In the decades since its initial release, the film has garnered a cult following, and its imagery has been referenced or parodied in other films, notably the Austin Powers franchise; it is also considered to be a forerunner to works depicting televised fights to the death, such as The Hunger Games. A novelization of the film, written by Sheckley, was published in 1966,[7] this was followed by two sequels, Victim Prime and Hunter/Victim in 1987 and 1988, respectively.[8] Although several attempts to produce a remake of The 10th Victim have been announced, none have entered production.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h P.J.S. (1968). "Decima vittima, La (The 10th Victim), Italy/France, 1965". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 35, no. 408. British Film Institute. p. 4. ISSN 0027-0407.
  2. ^ "La decima vittima (1965)". Archivio del Cinema Italiano On-Line.
  3. ^ "Cinema Club La Decima vittima". RAI. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  4. ^ Curti 2021, p. 84.
  5. ^ Curti 2021, p. 99.
  6. ^ a b Curti 2021, pp. 77–102.
  7. ^ Di Filippo, Paul. "The 10th Victim". Science Fiction Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  8. ^ Frelik, Paweł; Mead, David G. (2007). Playing the Universe: Games and Gaming in Science Fiction. Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-83-227-2656-3.
  9. ^ Goodridge, Mike (13 May 2004). "Morgan Creek tackles Tenth Victim". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 19 July 2021.