The Tenth Man

source: The Tenth Man

This is not suspense movie at all.... but a tricky self selection order for 30 people ....a CHOICE to choose which three..to be shot dead.... in some military revenge ..... they opted for a lottery and one of rich guy offers his wealth in exchange of his selected chit ! But the A Hopkins controlled underplay and the heroine will sure win your favor..

Graham Greene was a very talented writer, who churned out several good works; this among them. The film stars two heavyweight actors, Anthony Hopkins and Derek Jacobi (after he ruled Rome in Claudius). The plot is ingenious and fascinating, and the tension in the film holds for over an hour. I was very happy to see that Greene did not opt for a typical Hollywood ending and stuck to his guns in the true Shakespearian sense. The film drips with Shakespearian devices and nuances. Highly recommended.

Hopkins is an accomplished actor but this movie and its 'hole-ridden' plot along with some amateurish 'ham' scenes let it down. So many 'holes', not least the fact that someone who had grown up with Chaval as a boy and then lived in the same small village as him (albeit in the poorer quarter) as an adult, couldn't recognise him after only three years absence! Maybe made for an English speaking audience, but as actors they could have surely at least put on a French and German inflection with their accents. The very Brit accents detracted from what there was of any realism.

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 just watched The Tenth Man for the first time last night. Anthony Hopkins is one of my favorite actors and he did an amazing job with the lead role. The plot, which could have very easily been predictable and stale was made fresh and interesting considering the plot twists. My only complaint is that the end seemed a little hurried and unsatisfying. Maybe because it had to work in the confines of TV time. Any time Anthony Hopkins stars in a movie you know it has a chance to be good, and The Tenth Man lived up to that standard. Aside from the ending which seemed hurried like I said, I thought there was one logic issue that didn't make sense to me and it has to do with people not recognizing him. Other than that, great movie.

Great movie with an awesome plot, actors don't fail to pull you in! A must keeper...... until the end( no way)

A typical Graham Greene story, with many human factors, many human weaknesses, many human lies and many strange turns in a very human story. Anthony Hopkins is a very ordinary citizen, a very bourgeouis lawyer, well off with a chateau-like house outside Paris, working in Paris, when he goes in to town to work in 1940 gets rounded up by the Gestapo and put in prison on a waiting list for death. Although he shouldn't, he survives three years in that prison, while several of his fellow prisoners have been shot. He looks up the sister of one of them, Kristin Scott Thomas, and they become very good friends, until there is Derek Jacobi, who turns out to be a collaborator with the Germans, trying to take Kristin Scott Thomas for himself, which of course Anthony Hopkins can't quite accept. Perhaps the flaw of the story is its very human weakness, predominant in almost all of Graham Greene's novels. Here he should have told Thomas the real truth from the beginning and reveal who Jacobi really was, which he didn't which results in the consequences. It's perfect acting, a great human drama, a beautiful film and above all with wonderful music by Lee Holdridge, ideal film music for this kind of film. It is both one of Anthony Hopkins' and Kristin Scott Thomas' best performances in very delicate and tricky parts, she always does well in France, and this film and story is all French and very French. It's about the resistance in the war, the German tyranny, the intricate psychology of freedom fighters and collaborators, the son of Max Ophuls once made a very explicit film about this, clearing it all up in a unique documentary, while this film only touches on the problems and is focussed on the human factors. In brief, no Graham Greene admirer or reader of his books could be disappointed by this splendid feature on quite an intimate and chamber music level.

"The Tenth Man" is a screen adaptation of the powerful novel by Graham Green. Set in 1940s France at the time of the Nazi occupation and its aftermath, it tells the story of a man who does something despicable to save himself and later comes face to face with those whom he wronged. It's a great story with excellent acting by Anthony Hopkins and Kristen Scott Thomas, and well worth watching. However, you should bear in mind that this was a made-for-tv movie in 1988 for the Hallmark Channel. This means its presentation suffers from a lot of dated clichés, such as a saccharine Hallmark Channel musical score that often detracts from the powerful acting, bright lighting & sets which give it a slightly cheap look, and it also feels a bit rushed in pace, not giving the dramatic moments enough time to sink in. But if you can overlook these small flaws, the story and acting will sweep you away. Though set during WW2, this is not a war movie, there isn't much violence, and when there is violence it's handled in a safe PG-13 way. This is mostly a sentimental film that focuses on the characters' feelings more than action and plot twists. The plot does get twisty toward the end, bordering on crime thriller, but really this movie is more for people who enjoy slow, nostalgic films with themes of regret, forgiveness, morality and a dash of romance. I would compare this film to "Somewhere in Time" (1980) though the stories are nothing alike; they both share the same sentimental vibe, a bit syrupy in presentation but with first class acting and a great story.

Derek Jacobi is always for me the Emperor Claudius. Every other character he has played leaves me cold. This is a very clever story about French people during and right after the Nazi occupation from 1940-44. But the people all speak good English and act nothing at all like the French. The Germans of course act like Germans, brutal, vicious, violent as we expect them to be. I guess one could sympathize with Clavel and his dilemma as the one who sent Therese's brother to his death. But Anthony Hopkins here is not the Hopkins we have come to appreciate and love. He seems very wooden to me. I saw this on MGM HD quite by accident and it seemed to have prospects but I have nothing really good to say about ti.