Tenth Victim, The

Director:  Elio Petri
Year Released:  1965
Rating:  1.5

Post-Orwellian (if not simply "Orwellian") depiction of future in which people kill each other as a part of some contest to win a million dollars and be on TV – it can be viewed as a precursor to everything from Man Bites Dog to Battle Royale to the increasingly dangerous "real-life" television hits. But it becomes more and more tedious as it progresses, leaving interest far behind – when Petri dispenses with the flashy sets and out-there color design, leaving Marcello and Ursula talking or Marcello sulking, the film becomes bogged-down, and it's only until the flamboyant ending that it regains any lost attention.

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