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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Memorable, 7 Mar 2006
13 Tzameti is a surprising and memorable film that references but does not plagiarise other works while mining a distinct character of its own. Shot in stark monochrome, it opens in a bleak French coastal town where Sebastian, a young Georgian immigrant, is working as a handyman to help support his down-at-heel family. He is hired to work at the house of a woman and her drug addict partner, who he sees staggering out of his mind on a beach and later dies in the bathtub of an apparent overdose. During his time at the house Sebastien overhears some of his employers' murky criminal life and troubled finances, and - fearing that he won't be paid for the job - steals a train ticket and a letter of instructions addressed to his dead boss that he assumes will earn him some money. This begins a bizarre set of circumstances for the young man that I won't spoil by revealing here. Whereas the offbeat, dislocated opening could be misconstrued for something belonging to the pretentious avant-garde, what transpires is part film noir, part surreal nightmare in the mold of Bunuel, with minor similarities to The Deer Hunter and Eyes Wide Shut. However, the film is made in relatively good (though very black) humour, and its protagonist - who rarely speaks - is brilliant as the unwitting innocent.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A philosophically dark, emotionally intense, mesmerizing thriller, 14 Feb 2007
13 Tzameti is an outstanding, emotionally visceral film from first-time director Gela Babluani, a gripping, mesmerizing tour de force of cinematic expression that collars you in an ever-tightening noose of nervous tension and quickly engulfs you completely in its dark atmosphere. It's so rare for a film to come along and actually succeed at putting you on edge - 13 Tzameti, though, truly delivers the goods. It's not hard to see why the film garnered the award for Best First Feature at the Venice Film Festival and walked away with the World Cinema Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
I'm not going to go into detail in terms of the plot, as the film is much more effective if you the viewer descend alongside the main character into the depths of civilized depravity. It starts innocently enough, with young Sebastien (George Babluani) doing some repair work on a certain gentleman's roof. While he is working, he overhears this man talking about a letter he is expecting, a letter detailing an opportunity to make a great deal of money. Fate would seemingly have it that this letter would fall into the hands of Sebastien, and he makes the decision to pursue its mysterious promise himself, despite the fact he has no clue what it relates to. (As an immigrant, struggling to take care of his family, he decides to take the risk.) All he finds in the envelope is a train ticket and a hotel ticket, but these start him on a journey filled with cryptic clues, clandestine movements, and deepening mystery. At the end of that journey, when he finally realizes just what he has gotten himself in to, he has no choice but to play everything out. Play is the operative word here because Sebastien finds himself to be a player in a high-stakes game of chance, a game in which the losers pay the ultimate price. As the number of players shrinks and the stakes rise with each round, the intensity of each succeeding moment approaches levels rarely seen - especially recently - in cinema.
On the most basic level, the plot isn't all that complicated, but director Gela Babluani builds his story upon a deep foundation of nuance, subtlety, and philosophical meaning - conjuring up some poignant insight into human nature in the process. There's definitely an existential aspect to the whole story. At one point, when the climax really begins to build, one character implores his player to approach the game philosophically - and I feel he could just as easily be speaking to the audience when he says this.
The cinematography of 13 Tzameti is well-nigh perfect. It's always a joy to see a director eschew color for black and white, and the stark medium of the latter is all but demanded by the noir-ish atmosphere and stark philosophical implications of the story. It is difficult to believe this is director Gela Babluani's first feature film because he seems to have established control over every aspect of every shot. This is the kind of movie-making that would warm the cockles of Alfred Hitchcock's heart (not that I'm comparing Babluani to Hitchcock, of course).
The DVD comes with an impressive array of special features, most of which further illuminate the powerful messages conveyed in this multi-layered film. Even the deleted scenes contribute to your understanding of the film - but not so much as the interviews with director Gela Babluani and actors Georges Babluani and Aurelien Recoing. I was essentially blown away by Recoing's incredibly detailed observations and insights into his character and the film itself. He plays a somewhat savage character in the film, but Recoing sounds as if he could easily be teaching film criticism at some prestigious university. Even more insight into the film is provided by director Gela Babluani as he discusses the kind of oppressive life his family left in Soviet Georgia in order to enjoy the unknown freedoms offered by France. That experience, as he indicates, definitely played a part in his vision for 13 Tzameti. Additional insight into the game itself is provided by the "testimony of a survivor." I was expecting to see some broken-willed man bewailing the horror of the game, but the subject of this fascinating interview seems to live for the danger and excitement of his obsession. The DVD also comes with a short film called Sunday's Game that correlates extremely well (albeit with much more shock value) with the contents of the feature film.
Without a doubt, 13 Tzameti is one of the most gripping, intense, and memorable films I've seen in quite a long time. It's dark, cynical nature won't appeal to some individuals, but those who feel compelled to plunge the depths of man's inhumanity and like their thrillers truly intense will be amply rewarded by the power and depth of this film.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's alright., 18 Jun 2007
This film is someone's twist on Russian Roulette. That's it. That's the catalyst and the plot. The film is about nothing else and nothing else happens.
A young man working on some drug addict's house steals a letter from him. The letter eventually leads to the young man becoming embroiled in a Hostel-style underworld of gambling on people's lives. Yes, the pivotal scenes are gripping, but one would have to be a staggeringly inept director not to make them so. The good idea, the twist on Russian roulette, covers a large amount of the running time. I've read a few other reviews that talk about existentialism and the philosophical nuances of this film. Which sounds good. The problem with existentialism is that it is brutally simplistic- existence is harrowing. Existentialism has been a formal artistic consideration for some time now and, personally, I no longer find it sufficient to construct what resembles an existential platform but do nothing new with it. This looks quite harrowing, it is dark, it places its characters in a difficult position. But nothing new is being said. One of the gamblers keeps asking his player to consider his position philosophically. Ever intent, I took this as a heavy-handed hint to do likewise. And ended up scratching my head. Existentialism is a circular consideration- you need ferocious intelligence to break it and give us something new. It's best expression is in Dostoyevsky and Camus. This film just kind of goes through the motions, it says, 'check out how dark these circumstances I've contrived are' and then walks away, apparently satisfied.
It's shot in black and white. The beginning scenes are slow and sombre in a typically French-arthouse manner. The pivotal scenes, as I said, were gripping, though populated exclusively by stereotypes (soulless gamblers who exhibit no human qualities, a couple of psycho-brothers for good measure) and it creates this atmosphere which I think is the reason for its acclaim. It's an atmosphere of dark nihilism, of hopelessness. But I find it difficult to commend a film just for achieving such an atmosphere. It's one-dimensional and unenlightening. It's shallow and superficial and it's only the fact that it's French and black and white and nihilistic that its one-dimensional-ness is excused, even praised. It's an easy movie- given the central idea anyone could have made this film. There's nothing distinctive about it beyond the striking premise. It's a one-trick pony. It's an interesting trick, but it's not enough for me.
Everyone likes a good bit of grimy, gloomy, violent shock. If you're looking for a slice, this one will disappoint. It is too tame, too bland, in all but circumstance. What you see is mildly shocking, but there's nothing else here. Buy Man Bites Dog or Funny Games instead.
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