It's the future, and "The Big Hunt" provides a way for people to channel their aggressiveness into a socially sanctioned game of murder. The game also serves as a form of population control. Each player participates in ten hunts, five each alternately as hunter and victim. If he (or she) survives all ten, he becomes a decathlete and wins adoration from the masses as well as a million-dollar prize. Marcello Mastroianni is a suave womanizer on his seventh hunt, in which he is the prey. Ursula Andress is a bored ingenue; as she hunts Mastroianni in her tenth hunt, she nearly has the ultimate prize within her grasp.
One of the blurbs in the trailer promises "brilliant gadgetry." As one might expect, the technology predicted in 1965 sometimes foreshadows that which we have today, but most of it is laughable in its simplicity.
There's lots of artsy artsy art, mostly of the "op" variety. As I always am when I watch a film from the sixties, I was amazed at the prevalence of Howard Johnson's orange in the decor.
Overall, I guess I'd recommend this film if you're really, really into foreign films of its type, but if not, then skip it. I found that what posed as sophistication was just pretentious and boring, and the only entertainment value was in the little trip back into time via the sets and costumes.
In Italian with English subtitles available.
Title: The 10th Victim (La Decima Vittima)
Director: Elio Petri
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress
Released: 1965
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/Comedy
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Runtime: 92 minutes
My Rating: 5 out of 10 stars
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Comments: 9