The Tenth Man (1988)

One of my all time favorites.

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I found this one on Netflix streaming movies. I like all of the actors here, and found this to be a nice story.It is the 1940s and France is occupied by Nazi Germans. Anthony Hopkins, about 50 during filming, is French lawyer Jean Louis Chavel. He lives in a stately home outside the village of St Jean du Brinac, and has an office in town. He is known and respected by many townspeople. One day his fate turns as he walks back to his office after lunch. the Nazis are gathering up men, they need ten but only have nine, until they spot Chavel attempting to make himself invisible in a recessed doorway. They unceremoniously take him, in spite of his protestations, and throw all of them in prison, for no reason. But the shock really arrives when the guard tells the roughly 30 total men, they will shoot and kill one of every ten the next morning at 7AM, three total. And he further suggests that this time he will let them pick among themselves which 3.To quickly state the result, which gets us to the main of the story, Chavel by blind lottery is one of the 3 chosen to die the next morning, but he bargains with a sickly man, who has a sister and mother he wants to take care of. So the bargain is this, if Chavel will write a gift contract to give a sum of money plus his house and land to his sister and mother equally, and have it witnessed by two prisoners, he will die in the place of Chavel. The contract is given to a disinterested party to deliver. Kristin Scott Thomas, who was about 27 during filming, is the sister, Therese Mangeot . One day, three years later, he shows up at his former house, looking for a meal, but not identifying himself correctly. He correctly figured she would not be happy to meet him, responsible for her brother's death. So as a "friend" of her brother's he stays and agrees to do some work around the estate in exchange for food, lodging, and a small salary.All is running well, and the two are starting to take a fancy for each other, until another man shows up, claiming to be Chavel. Derek Jacobi is The Imposter . This upsets everything, and the real Chavel has several new challenges to figure out.All in all a very nice movie.SPOILERS: Eventually the real Chavel has to expose the imposter, but this leads to an altercation, the imposter has a small handgun, he shoots, and Chavel is mortally wounded. He bought a new life while in prison but his fate was only postponed for a short time.

I was surprised at how gripping this story turned out to be. I've never been that fond of Graham Greene. Somebody commits a sin, mopes around feeling gloomy, and it all ends unpleasantly. That happens here, too, but the plot is lifted out of the ordinary by the simplicity of the story and the splendid acting.Anthony Hopkins commits a sin -- I guess. It's a sin I would have jumped to commit myself. He's one of about two dozen prisoners in a Nazi cell in France, three of whom must be chosen by lot for execution. Hopkins draws one of the three X's. He's scared witless and offers his estate, lands, money, and all other properties to anyone who will take his place. A young man accepts the offer in the name of his sister, Kristin Scott Thomas, and their mother -- two poor people living near Paris -- then goes to his death.After his release, Hopkins wanders around and, with no particular place to go, winds up at his old estate, now dilapidated. Thomas and her moribund mother live there. They reluctantly invite him in and he winds up being the caretaker.The problem is that Thomas knows all about the transfer of the estate and she hates Hopkins real character for buying his own life at the expense of her brother's. She has a pistol stashed away, hoping he'll show up so she can shoot him. Hopkins tells her nothing of his real identity, only claiming to have been in the same prison with Kristin's brother and having witnessed the transfer.The old lady is bitter but in a very human way. Hopkins finds himself enjoying his new role in his old home. And Thomas gradually warms towards him -- still ignorant of who is really is. The mansion and its grounds begin to take on a more respectable appearance.So far, so expectable. But then an impostor, Derek Jacobi, shows up claiming to be the original Hopkins. In reality, he's a nobody, thoroughly evil -- a collaborator, murderer, and accomplished liar. He invents all sorts of stories to glorify himself and to undermine Hopkins' status in the household and in Thomas's eyes.I don't think I'll give away too much more of the plot. The man incapable of feeling guilt squares off against the man dying from a surfeit of it. Let's say that Hopkins does his penance and it's more demanding than one Our Father and Ten Hail Marys.Hopkins gives one of his most striking performances. Not nearly as splashy as "The Silence of the Lambs" but at least as effective. He rarely does what we'd expect from a more routine enactment of his roles. I'll give one example. He and Thomas are alone in the kitchen of the big run-down estate, and she has just discovered one of Hopkins' lies -- a little one -- and she accuses him. Hopkins stares quietly back for a second, then drops his face and brings his fist to his mouth to gnaw a bit at his knuckle or fingernail, just like a man jostling along in a crowded subway might do in a state of mild distraction. Absolutely without bravura, and yet perfectly apt.Derek Jacobi looks right for the part of the very villainous heavy, in that his appearance is bland and his manner tentative except when it slides into deliberate slime. Nice job.Kristin Scott Thomas is a fine actress but she may not belong in the part of a superstitious working-class peasant. She's neatly groomed. Her cool blue eyes glow with intelligence. And her features are clean and even. She has the face of one of those exceptionally efficient nurses who know everything that's going on in the ward. I can't imagine her fingernails ever having been dirty.All around, a memorable job by everyone concerned.

I just want to add a little balance to the glowing reviews here saying this one of Anthony Hopkins "best". Ummm, I don't think so, and it's not his doing. The Tenth Man starts out with a LOT of promise as Hopkins character a French Lawyer is rounded up in a hostage sweep by the Nazi's on the streets of Paris. Now I guess that could have happened but something tells me even Nazi's aren't that stupid to take one of the french upper crust in a hostage sweep and why after he was forced to go to the castle prison someone didn't come to get him out, I guess poor planning on his part not to have a contingency for that. Anyway he is in a cell with other hostages used as reprisal against the resistance. Not long after he is imprisoned the Nazi's call for every tenth man to be taken out and shot and the Nazi's the sadists they are tell the prisoners to chose. Hopkins draws the lot and pleads for mercy, and than offers his rich estate to anyone who will take his place. A young drifter takes his offer, does an impromptu will and gets shot in the morning. About 3 years later Hopkins is out of prison finally because France has been liberated (yeah I know, they were shooting guys 2 days into his captivity and somehow he makes it through 3 years, go figure). Hopkins is a wreck of a man goes back to his estate, tries to live there as a landscaper and falls in love. The girl there, the dead guys sister, has a burning passion to see the guy who "killed" her brother, she hates him with all get out. Anyway, after the prison scenes which are maybe 20 minutes, its 80 minutes of a really drawn out melodrama. The sisters character has absolutely no pity for why they got in this situation and blames only the rich guy, the rich guy is scared to tell her the truth, some others come along to expose him, she after living with this guy a long time still has no sympathy for him, the bad tattletale shoots Hopkins in the heart, and I just saved you 100 minutes to do other things. I guess a chick wartime flick but with the sister being such a b##ch it was hard to get into it, I am glad I watched the ending though so I could see how it all turned out, not pretty. Definitely NOT Hopkins best but he is of course good, its just the script that sucks. I recommend "Random Harvest" for a better watch pertaining to war, lost identities, and love.

I remembered this movie (and subsequently ordered it) because of Anthony Hopkins' incredible role. When I received it from my movie retailer, I realized that the other actor in it was Derek Jacobi, who has become my favorite actor of all time. To top it off, the woman is Kristin Scott-Thomas who hadn't come into her own yet. This is an amazing cast, from a novel from an amazing author. Watch it! Watch it!