Pierrepoint-The Last Hangman is certainly a film that illustrates the man and paints a description of the history of capital punishment in the mid 20th century in a fairly accurate manner.
Albert Pierrepoint was Britain's most famous (thanks to the War office unmasking him after WW2) and most professional hangman with a 'drop' record of 7.5 seconds.
One would assume due to the films main character as well as it's subject that Pierrepoint-The last Hangman is a macabre movie or at least has a preachy message concerning the ills of capital punishment, I am glad to say it does not.
Timothy Spall is one of the movie versatile of British character actors and he plays Peirrepoint in a excellent manner with due reverence to the mans beliefs as well as his actions.
I have to confess that I have a clear soft spot for movies that are true to the history on which the film is based, but even trying to ignore that and view the film objectively Pierrepoint-The Last Hangman is an utterly engaging film.
Albert Pierrepoint didn't care who he was executing he was only concerned with his duty and had the uppermost confidence in the Court that condemned the man to be executed.
Essentially the last of such generation the film accurately shows the changing environment in which he lived after WW2 and (though Pierrepoint remained the same) how people changed and there attitude changed with them.
There are some problems with the movie however, firstly I Was disappointed that more wasn't made in the movie about the execution of Ruth Ellis and chiefly its effect on Pierrepoint.
As I know from my historical knowledge that it was this event above anything else that made him question his duty and it was mainly this event that led him to say (as shown at the end of the film) that capital punishment doesn't work and essentially is about revenge.
Lastly I wasn't happy with the figure that was given at the end of the movie of the number of people Pierrepoint executed as this is vastly exaggerated.
I just believed that for a movie so true and respectful to the real person and the events it is very disappointing they got the number wrong at the end.
That said in summary I believe this movie is an excellent example of a very difficult genre to get right, historical drama.
I believe that it deals with a difficult story in the correct way and if you are looking for a movie that is less mainstream and more intellectual then I would highly recommend Pierrepoint-The last Hangman.