One star for the premise, none for execution. (No pun intended.)
Added 9/17/2009
I am sure if you are reading this you have already read the synopsis so there is no need to go into what this film is actually about. The idea was brilliant and made for a great trailer when I watched The Ordeal. That is about where the tension and impact of the movie faltered. The writing just didn't hold up long enough for even this very short yet feature-legnth movie. The direction is very film-school. I would expect this from a 20 year old at the helm. As far as plot twists and turns, there are no surprises to be found here. What you get is a linear tale told in more or less real time. To add to the sense of forboding the film is shot in black and white and the costume department made liberal use of strategically placed water to up the tension by making the actors appear sweatier and sweatier as the contest goes on. This really isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination. Check out the trailer. I would stop after that.
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A pointless, uninteresting waste of time
Added 4/5/2009
Sebastian (Georges Babluani), a young trademan in need of cash, assumes the identity of his dead employer in order to become involved in a dangerous game of chance.
Given the swag of awards won by this film at assorted film festivals and the critical praise quoted on the DVD cover, I expected much more from this film. In fact, there isn't very much to it. The film begins reasonably well, setting up "the game" in the minds of the audience, but once Sebastian arrives at the game, the film falls flat because the game is just so uninteresting. The game comprises a group of men standing around in a circle and playing what could best be described as communal Russian Roulette. That's it. Round after round of Russian Roulette with very little variation, except in the number of bullets involved. To make matters worse, there is minimal tension in each of these rounds because the other characters are barely developed and you know that, since he is the main character, Sebastian has to survive at each point. I expected the nature of the game to change more substantially between rounds to incorporate some variety into the film, but it doesn't. Furthermore, once the game is over, the film proceeds to an ending that is just plain lame.
"13 Tzameti" is yet another foreign language film that is slated for an American remake, but I have no idea why. Hopefully there will be some serious rewriting involved in the script of the remake, in order to make it more substantial, but given that Gela Babluani, who wrote and directed the original, is also writing and directing the remake, I have my doubts.
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A grim tale of human desperation
Added 4/5/2009
Casual movie-seekers beware. This movie is one of the few that can imprint itself into your psyche. A glimpse at spiritual death is unfolded for you from the morphine addict ready to risk his life for the off chance (1 in 13) that he'll survive the roulette game, to the villains who are running the game and accepting bets, to the audience of high stakes gamblers, to the other hopeless contestants - such as the older brother who put his younger brother, who he loved dearly, up to competing.
The idea that a human being considers their life so worthless that they would participate in a game like this is what the movie, I think, is trying to illustrate. There's also an implied message about gamesmanship overtaking individual worth - something akin to the play-to-the death games in Rollerball, only illustrated much more starkly here.
To sum up this extraordinarily well done movie from my perspective, it was one of the most sickening and horrible experiences to see humanity reduced to disposable rabble in this way. Don't trot it out for a date or a group of friends on a Friday night. This is best watched alone.
An American release "13" is on the way. I will be first in line.
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Underrated Gem
Added 8/16/2008
I didn't know anything about this movie other than what was written on the DVD case (and I wasn't sure about calling it an "existential thriller"), but was pleasantly surprised. It was filmed in black and white and is subtitled, if that matters to you (it didn't to me).
The trailers give you an idea of what the movie is about, but I think it's better if you watch the movie unfold without knowing anything about it.
The first half hour did drag a bit, but after that, it was great. After watching it, I can now see why it was called an existential thriller. Very well done for the director's first film and worthy of the many awards it received.
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A bit of a shaggy dog story
Added 7/25/2008
13/Tzameti is bit of a shaggy dog story but, once it gets past the awkward first half hour, one that plays out surprisingly well considering its focussing on one character saps it of any real suspense because we know if anything happens to him, the movie is over. A poor émigré's relation to Intacto that focuses on a different kind of betting on other people's luck and is mainly variations on a theme, it doesn't outstay its welcome even if it doesn't make quite as much of its central conceit as it might.
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