The 10th Victim (Italian: La decima vittima) is an Italian cult science fiction film directed by Elio Petri in 1965. It is based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story "Seventh Victim". Sheckley later published a novelization of the film in 1966.
The film begins with a man chasing a woman through the streets whilst shooting at her. He is stopped by a policeman to be questioned but the man shows his licence to kill and the policeman allows him to continue. The scenes transfer between the pursuit and a narrator explaining the rules and justification of the attempted murder.
In the near future, big wars are avoided by giving individuals with violent tendencies a chance to kill in the Big Hunt. The Hunt is the most popular form of entertainment in the world and also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunter and five as the victim. The survivor of the ten rounds will become the ultimate champion.
Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) is the huntress armed with a high caliber Bosch Shotgun looking for her tenth victim. Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni) is the victim, but is reluctant to kill Meredith as he is not sure whether she really is his hunter. Killing the wrong person would get him locked up in prison for 30 years. To maximize her financial gain, Meredith wants to get a perfect kill in front of the cameras as she has negotiated a major sponsor from the Ming Tea Company.
Originally released in 1965 and based on a story by Robert Sheckley, Elio Petri's The 10th Victim can be seen as a mod ménage of La Dolce Vita, James Bond and The Most Dangerous Game. The film is set in the then-futuristic 21st century; we've lived to see some (but thankfully not all) of Petri's amorally corrupt worldview come to fruition. Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress are players in the world's most popular game: a real-life manhunt in which two participants are randomly chosen by a computer, one to be a hunter, the other to be the hunted. After ten successful rounds, you win a million dollars and the elite status as a "decathlete." The world is their battlefield (except for churches, bars, barbershops and a couple of other off-limits locales) — and other than parking violations not being tolerated, there are no rules.
Chock full of James Bond-type gadgetry, including a bra that doubles as a machine gun (this is where Austin Powers got it from) and a mechanical pet named Thomas that delivers a soothing massage and hides a gun in its mouth, The 10th Victim is a retro fantasia that may look charmingly dated because of its "futuristic" vision. But beneath the façade is a dystopic view that continues to remain relevant. And considering the increasingly mobility of media and the seeming promise of instant stardom (whether on reality television or the internet), Petri's film will continue to speak to consumer culture for a long time to come.
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