13 Tzameti (2005) Online

I know that having made that comment, it is obviously difficult for me to then expect you to read this. But bear with me here. This really is an excellent film and I went to see it having seen a very good trailer for it. The problem is that for the first half of the film I was wondering how we got to the bit I'd seen in the trailer (it's also in promotional stills and the poster). Although this is natural and happens with many films, it is not such a key element of the plot usually as it is in this film. From a very mundane beginning this film develops into the 'thriller' which it is billed as. But the true strength of this film lies in following the journey of the lead character who doesn't know what is going until it is too late. To get the full effect of this film you really ought to see it 'blind'. Even if you know something about it I'd still definitely recommend it. Filmed in black and white and focused very much on the lead character it tells a chilling story very well indeed.

First: this movie starts slow. Stick with it – no matter what! The film makers aren't wasting your time. They're taking you someplace you never would have guessed, not in a hundred years.

Second – it is a superb film. Great story well told. A low budget film that does not seem at all low budget.

Also, a good film for a student of film. A very good example a minimalist approach. The director very much lets the story tell itself. The camera is very unobtrusive. There is no artificial manipulation of the emotions by music, sound or special fx. Every thing is low key, just a little excitement by some key actors, just as it would be. Great film making? Yes; taught, tense, exciting, nerve racking.

Also, a great example of how you can still make a great film without a lot of blood, gore or sex. What?..... your thinking.... how can you do that? Watch the film and find out.

How low budget is this? One suspects it was shot in b & w more for budgetary reasons than style. However, this director demonstrates such a mastery of his craft that it may be intentional. For which ever reason, it works.

Good casting, too, even though there was a little nepotism. Even the fat guy was well cast.

Last, as another critic advised: the less you know going into this film, the better. However, I give this one piece of information: Tzameti means '13' in Georgian (as in the Caucasus's not the United States....). So, the title reads: "13….13". Even this makes sense if you note three things…..

Sit back and enjoy.... although later you'll be on the edge of your seat.

There is little one can say about the story without giving away its core absurdity. The first half is a mystery. In the second we are thrown into a violent hell. (For the sensitive: the gore is minimal and mostly off camera.) The film reintroduces us to the fact that the repetitiveness of violence deadens our revulsion to it. Here it applies to the main character in the film and to us as audience. It is disturbing how quickly we get used to each eruption of violence and come to see it as a game. This habituation is what soldiers in war, butchers, and grandma slicing the chicken's neck to get it ready for dinner go through. Death as means to an end. Ultimately an allegory of the predatory nature of power and money.

Filmed in B/W. Blood is dark gray which helps tame our revulsion. The director's brother plays the main role. He does a competent job. Filmed in wide format. Superb editing maintains the tension from beginning to end. As I understand it, "Tzameti" means thirteen. See the film to understand why the film is so named.

A very impressive debut film by a young french filmmaker. What starts out initially as a seemingly simple tale soon turns into a twisted thriller. The amount of tension this film builds is incredible. You'll be hooked. The black and white filming fits perfectly. I gives the film a different edge that I don't think would have been the same had it been filmed in color.

On a side note, I thought the lead actor, besides having an uncanny resemblance to James Franco, did a solid job. His emotions came across as very believable, and not forced.

This film is highly recommended. Be sure to avoid spoilers.

This remarkable first movie by a young France filmmaker really impressed me and without any doubt it had been one of the most beautiful screening in the Festival of Venice.

It's a black and white sadistic journey through the misery of men. The protagonist, an immigrant twenty year old guy, struggles to survive and works fixing a roof, when the owner of the house he's working at dies of overdose he gets to know that he's not going to be paid and decides to replace the man in a mysterious job outside town. He finds himself involved in a whirl of violence that will take away from him any form of innocence.

I strongly recommend it

This is a brilliant movie. It's not a bloated Hollywood concoction, derived of any original idea or emotion. It tells its story and ends, does not linger endlessly and unnecessarily. It revolves around a single bright idea, which it carries and improves through its length. The fact that it's shot in B/W only adds to the effect, making it more gritty and realistic. It also enhances the expressions of characters, making them more artistic.

The casting is perfect as well, in my opinion. At times, I got the feeling that I'm watching real people and not actors. Great soundtrack which doesn't convolute every scene as silence plays a big role in the movie, building the tension.

This movie just reminds what cinema is really about; why films move people and make them feel things. It's an absolute treat.

Lastly, this movie has the single best sequence I saw in a movie for a long time. It's raw,gripping and nerve racking. Also, pay attention to sounds and looks, which at times tells a whole sentence. Do not watch any trailers or read any detailed reviews on this film to feel the full effect.

Briefly, this is a melodrama about a young handyman who, stiffed for his pay by a "dead"beat client, naively takes his customer's place in a big stakes game that he suspects can make him more than good for the money due him. But the joust turns out to be, essentially, an elaborate game of Russian roulette.

Though the film and the language is French, the auteur, Gela Babluani, is from Georgia (that's the Georgia that used to be part of the USSR). His choice for the final turn of plot reflects, I think, the mores of Tbilisi rather than the sane moral relativism of today's West. But the look, the precision, the atmosphere, the tension Babluani produces are awestriking. The lead character, Sebastien, is played by George Babluani, a relative of the director I would guess. This young actor is handsome,lithe, intense, with a gift of expression that is magical.

Comparing Director Babluani , now in his 20's, with, say, Scorsese at the same age, Scorsese was doing imaginative, promising but still academic pieces. Babluani is sure, electric, the technique never shows. Jim Smith

I'm so grateful for having seen this movie on the silver screen. It's an amazingly dark film, in the style of Man Bites Dog, and it also has some elements of Eli Roth's Hostel. If you like movies with that dark atmosphere, don't miss this one! A young man who is hired to fix up an old house, finds a mysterious letter that has instructions. When he decides to follow them, more letters and instructions follow, and eventually he ends up in a house in the middle of the woods where he and others have to face a difficult task, in order to please the rich. If (the word IF is very important) he survives, he gets a lot of money. I'd love to tell you more about it, but it would ruin the surprise.

At the end, when you're watching the credits, I think you'll feel more satisfied than watching any American movie. This one has an ending, it can't have a sequel. The ending is quite ironical, it's been a while since a movie really surprised me with that. It's amazing what kinds of risks non-American movie makers take, what they put their characters through.

The cinematography was also surprising, it's a black and white movie, very stylish, film-noir like. Artsy, but not at all MTV-like. Once you get into the story, you'll begin to love the black and white, it's been such a good decision, and it adds to the atmosphere.

I had never seen a Georgian movie before so i was very excited and all my wishes came true. It was way better than i expected and when it's out on DVD, I'll rent it again, or buy it, that's for sure.

One last thing, if Géla Babluani's writing and directing a movie again, i hope it will be as awesome, dark and surprising again! He could be the Georgian Tarantino. 10/10

The idea is simple and easy to follow without many ploys or elaborate schemes.

The quality of the film comes from the build up of tension throughout, the camera work involves a lot of close ups on peoples faces and this gives us a real view of their fear and desperation.

Babluani does a great job in the lead as an ordinary man who is out of his depth and has no alternative except to play along.

There are a few twists in the tale to keeping you guessing and the ending is good with the atmosphere remaining taut right to the end.

No clichés or other silliness just good directing and acting.

If you desire to see an edge of your seat thriller, definitely take the opportunity to go downtown to the Market Arcade Theatre and check out the enthralling, French-language 13 Tzameti, while you still have the opportunity. This film is a debut that any veteran director would love to have included in his/her filmography. A minimalist film in terms of dialogue and set, the real magic lies in the performances. Each character has his life on the line at some point during the proceedings, whether it physically, monetarily, or emotionally. The closest film I can compare it to is the final half hour of Eli Roth's Hostel, only with tension amped up to the extreme, and the gratuity of gore and sex turned down to an almost non- entity. By showing reactions to and only short bursts of violence, director Géla Babluani has created a master-class in the school of less is more. Whereas Roth went for the outlandish, gross-out effects, Babluani sticks with reality and it is that much more effective as a result.

While all the acting is top-notch in terms of expressing the weight of the world trouble laid on almost every character's shoulders, our star Sébastien, played by George Babluani, really stands out. He starts out as a young laborer, capable and taking pride in the job he is doing. His family at home really needs the money this job will soon afford, hopefully to take some pressure off his gimp brother who seems to only have time to sleep when he is not hard at work. Sébastien soon realizes that his employer is not well, mentally or financially. He overhears a conversation while working on his employer's roof that, besides fronting the advance for his construction work, the old man really doesn't have the money for anything else, and is not sure he can do the task awaiting him again. This task is given through a striped envelope containing a train ticket and paid hotel room. Circumstances soon play out which leave young Sébastien broke and in possession of said letter, whose conversations around seem to show a bountiful of wealth upon receipt. The desperate times call for him to go in his employer's place, without any knowledge of what he will have to do, in order to bring some money back to his family.

George Babluani gives an emotionally draining performance, transforming from a hopeful boy with work to a broken heap of nerves, fighting for his life knowing that his only hope for survival will be to kill at least one other human being. As the film's trailer showed, the task at hand is joining an underground gambling event of Russian Roulette, with a twist. Your gun is pressed against the back of the head of the man standing next to you. When the light above turns on, everyone shoots; there can be only one victor after the three rounds and final duel. But don't look in the others' eyes; it is much harder to pull the trigger on someone whose soul is bare than the matted down, sweat drenched hair motionlessly dead ahead. These actors are battling the nerves to not only stay alive, but also deal with being a murderer in order to survive. Babluani, the director, shows us such realism that you almost believe these men have real guns in their hands, playing God while their handlers wait in the adjacent room to see if their millions have been betted on the luckiest man. The final duel is painful to watch, seeing these men resolved to tears and a need of forgiveness knowing what they will have to do.

While the contest is the crux of the film, it is not the only trial needing to be overcome. We have police on the hunt for the hideout to put a stop to the games and we have handlers with novices who have never shot a gun—they must put the unknown players in because they will be fined if not, and if for some reason that person brought the police, they'd be considered the rat if they left before a raid. The stakes are high, the outcome always looking bleak. As a viewer, you have no idea where the story will take you next, no one is special and everyone's life hangs by a thread. The gorgeous black and white cinematography helps keep you on edge, viewing through sharp angles and thick grain, adding to the tension and heart- pounding action unraveling itself on screen. I almost can't wait to see the Hollywood remake, which has been recently greenlit for development, just to see how they ruin an amazing feat of cinema.

How can one define a troublesome film like 13 Tzameti ? Can it be called an existential revelation of our modern times or is it simply a quick paced high intensity thriller ? Whatever one says,it is sure that 13 Tzameti is a rare film which makes sure that fiction comes close to reality.There is a reason for that as its director Gela Babluani learned the art of cinema from his father Temur Babluani whose film "The son of the wakeful" bagged silver bear prize for an outstanding artistic contribution at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival.Both of them come from Georgia,a land which has given birth to such prolific film directors as Tengiz Abuladze,Temur Babluani,Goderdzi Chokheli,Georgi Daneliya,Nana Djordjadze,Lana Gogoberidze,Otar Iosseliani,Mikhail Kalatozov and Marlen Khutsiev.13 Tzameti is not for the weak hearted people as there is an excessive usage of guns in it.It is normal for us to associate guns for mutual destruction but this film shows us that they are also used to conduct wild games which can prove out to be fatal.There is a degree of authenticity as the events depicted might be taking place in an undisclosed location of an unknown country.13 Tzameti succeeds on a social level too as its success has ensured that the stigma attached to number 13 needs to be erased from people's minds.

This file is highly overrated. I can only think of a few possibilities why that is. First of all this probably is due to the fact that people are more reluctant to criticize world cinema or maybe it is simply that people are misled by the file being shot in black-and-white. I really don't know. What I do know is that the script itself is not very original. Tzameti is an Intacto (which, by the way, scores lower on IMDb than Tzameti, which is a bit of a disgrace) with Deerhunter ingredients. Because these are great movies this shouldn't be much of a problem. But only when all the other ingredients compensate this lack of originality. This isn't the case. The acting performances are poor. The acting as well as the plot does show the motivation of the people in the movie who are involved in the game. While Intacto leaves you wondering if 'in the real world' one man's luck is the other man's misfortune, Tzameti leaves you with nothing at all or maybe the question 'why are these people in it?'. This is far to little for a real good movie. Furthermore the music is annoying (far too much cliché thriller stuff). The plot, especially in the beginning, is very soap like (e.g when the letter is put on the table in front of the open window the viewer already knows it will blow away and later Sebastian clumsily runs into the letter). The plot also isn't very believable (the way the police loses track of the main character on the way to the game, the gamers with loaded guns in their hands while the gamblers stand around them, the way the main character listens through the open roof to a conversation and none of the people conversating notices the open roof with the wind blowing through it). There are though a few positive points (the tension at the start of the game with the light bulb and the good acting performance of Pascal Bongard) but it is all too little to say this is a good movie.

Gela Balbuani, writer and director of 13 Tzameti, has probably seen more than few Noirs from the 1950s, but his work here also makes for other comparisons as well. His film has that air of doom and detached, almost cold despair that reminds one of a Jean-Pierre Melville film. There is also the element, from Melville, of characters who 'do' more than talk, as the slightest or most obvious expressions tell everything we as the audience need to know. But the subject matter is a lot closer to that of at least a few cult films as of late that have basically a story gimmick that is taken very seriously. But unlike Fincher's the Game where the stylistic flair is part of the artificial nature of the content or Fukasaku's Battle Royal (a film I thought of a couple of times midway through this film) where the nihilism is so over the top it becomes comical, 13 Tzameti is shot in stark, gritty black and white photography. This is not simply done, I think, for the filmmaker to get in his 'old-school' kicks from those hard-boiled noirs from America and even France.

The story unfolds without much complexity, but with enough ambiguity early on to make an impact midway through. Sebastien (George Balbuani in his first film role under director Gela's directorial debut), finds that his neighbor Jean-Louis (Passon, in a good if all-too-short performance) has killed himself in his own bathtub from an overdose. For a reason that is made clear though not precise (money for his immigrant family, and possibly just curiosity), he decides to follow the lead of a package of instructions left for Jean-Louis, which takes him through various channels of travel across the country even as he's being tailed by the police. Like in Eyes Wide Shut, Sebastien is the bemused, eventually awfully affected outsider, this case in a group of people who watch, bet, or participate in a sort of 'game' where rich old Frenchmen bet thousands on who will die, or kill, in three rounds where thirteen contestants have to load up one gun a piece and fire it at the other's head in a domino-type line. The game becomes the centerpiece of the film, where morphine and alcohol gets slammed down and shot up in-between the rounds, and the game itself becomes as captivating as the participants, and on both sides of the volunteer killers and on-lookers bring on an unnerving sense of doom, and it pervades the film up until the end.

The logic behind the technical style, one where Meliava's absence of hand-held photography and wavering close-ups and high-angle shots in the 'shooting' scenes, creates a world devoid of a sense of humor, and one that completely sustains the tone of the film. On top of this, the musical accompaniment is only on occasion, with the mid-section The acting also corresponds with this style, as the performances are all very realistic, and Balbuani particularly has a lot to carry as the protagonist. His character halfway through goes through a change from being a not-too-special, contemplative young guy to being traumatized with this special roulette-like competition and finally into something of the walking dead in his some of his mannerisms. For a first-time performance under a first-time director, it's a turn that reminds me (speaking of French films from days gone by) of a Jean-Pierre Leaud, with a face and demeanor that can only hide so much before the emotional toll of the character finally comes through. It's an uncompromising film with a violent, desperate core where the fates are against all involved in the game, with little hope in sight. That it won't be for everyone is not a surprise, but it has an appeal that might someday make it into a cult-movie, and it's got a psychological edge that has me already ready to watch it again.

Good but somewhat disappointing with very very little storyline. Basically, from the teaser trailer which just showed a scene from the part in the movie where they play the "game", I could make up this entire film. Besides the main concept, there is nothing new or original in the movie which was disappointing. We don't get to know any of the characters, and the game gets repetitive when they add nothing new to change it up. They also throw in a storyline with the police to try to put some meat on the storyline but it doesn't do much. On the flipside, this movie is quite well-filmed and despite its severe (and I really mean that) lack of tension, it still remained somewhat intriguing all the way through, with a very bleak atmosphere enhanced by the stark black and white look of the film. The first part up to the game worked well and would've worked even better had I known nothing about this movie. Essentially, I think this could've been one of the best 15-20 minute short films I'd ever seen. Instead, it is a diluted/flawed but passable feature film.

Carpenter Sébastien is hired by the mysterious house-owner Jean-Francois to fix his roof. When the house-owner suddenly dies, Sébastien finds a valuable letter that contains clear instructions.

Géla Babluani's dark debut from modern day France about a young immigrant who takes a risky choice to help his family, opens as a classic film-noir and develops after the chronologies time-frame to a tight psychological thriller about a cynical underground milieu where the unknowing protagonist realizes that the consequences of his choice has forced him into a situation that he can only get out of by conquering death. The compassion, warmth and harmony Babluani suggests of in the character introduction is alienated after the point-of-no-return, and from here on out Géla Babluani depicts a hazardous gambling community where human worth means nothing and money everything.

Promising Georgian-French director Géla Babluani was possibly inspired by 1940s American Film Noir and Robert Bresson's metaphysical dramas when he started making this formalistic art film that is associable with Juan-Carlos Fresnadillo's "Intacto" (2001). "Contestant 13" is vigorously filmed and photographed in a black-and-white color that increases the films cold realism, concentrates the plot and tones down the emotional aspects. The variations of long and short takes, the short and concise dialog and the frequent use of close ups intensifies the drama in this stylized character study, whole heartedly played by the director's debuting brother George Babluani. The misty background music and the minimal elements of humor decreases the apocalyptic mood in this tense feature film debut. This is 90 minutes in breath-taking excitement and observation of West-European art film.

"13 (Tzameti)" is a very tense, black and white France-Georgia co-production that has made people abroad catch an eye for Georgian cinema and the young filmmaker Géla Babluani.

The plot is simple: a young handyman called Sébastien (George Babluani, Géla's real life brother), decides to follow instructions intended to Godon (Philippe Passon), the owner of the house he'd been repairing the roof of, after Godon dies of drug overdose. But he couldn't imagine he'd be taken to a house in the woods where men gamble on men's lives, and he's forced to take part in a gruesome game of Russian Roulette where only one of the 13 men will survive.

At first, I thought Babluani's directing was cold, and Olga Legrand's performance as Mme Godon was bland. But after Sébastien gets into the house, the film develops its own momentum, a slow, edgy pace, and we are introduced to one of the most claustrophobic, original films of the past years. Many people have compared "13 (Tzameti)" to Polanski, Hitchcock, Lynch etc., and it's somewhat true, but the first names that came to my mind, undoubtedly, were Kafka and Dostoievski. Despite these clear influences, Babluani managed to make an original debut with a simple but thought-provoking plot, and a memorable ending. It's no surprise that Hollywood already signed for a remake. Won't they ever learn? Just remember the most recent catastrophe, "The Last Kiss", the silly remake of the nice Italian film "L'Ultimo Bacio", with a different, more conventional ending.

See the original "13 (Tzameti)" as soon as you can, and you won't be disappointed. 9 out of 10.

Sundance Film Festival World Dramatic Winner. French film by a director from Georgia. Apparently remade by Hollywood as "13" within the past few years. For the first half I was left wondering what exactly the heck is happening? And why is this in black and white? The B&W had no dramatic effect on the nothing that was taking place. Slowly everything comes into view as our protagonist sets off on a mysterious journey with the promise of money at the end of the rainbow. Only there is no rainbow. The black and white cinematography helps move this dark thriller as we enter a world that can barely be explained with words. It's a mind-blowing (pun intended) nightmare. Rich men will bet on anything and this has got to be seen to be believed. Sitting in shock and awe, the film progresses swiftly to its ultimate conclusion leaving me wondering if what I truly just saw was truly on my screen or a nightmare of my own. Definitely an excellent directorial debut that I'd like to see again someday.

7.0 / 10

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

The film begins with a roofer working at a home of a man who seems to be a hard-core drug addict living out his final days. Several times during the first 1/3 of the film the guy looks like death warmed over and eventually he does die from an overdose. Just before he dies, a letter arrives that somehow means the potential for BIG money--but exactly what it is and how he was to have earned it is unclear. The roofer, on a lark, steals the letter. Later, it turns out there are instructions for where to go as well as a train ticket--but what this big money-making opportunity is is never clear--though you can safely assume it will be dangerous and illegal. After all, why else would anyone offer a dying addict this opportunity?! I really don't want to say more, but this film is amazingly intelligent in its writing but will most likely turn the stomachs or cause very negative reactions in many viewers. Be advised that you may want to bow out midway through the film--that's okay. Too bad the roofer couldn't.

As Ricky Ricardo was fond of saying to Lucy "You got some 'splaining to do" when it comes to my summary. How could the movie earn an 8 and yet be a film I hated watching?! On the surface, this doesn't make any sense. Well here's why--I don't particularly like violent movies and this is one of the most violent and upsetting films I have seen in a long, long time. Now the violence isn't like a John Woo or Sylvester Stallone film--where you have tons of explosions and gunfire. Instead, it's very up close and very personal--and frankly this made it very disturbing. By comparison, it was much more disturbing and difficult to watch than SWEENEY TODD. Exactly how and why it was so disturbing I really don't want to say, as it really would hinder the suspense--just take my word for it that this is NOT a film for kids or even teens to watch and most adults would also flinch at the extreme violence. Now this isn't to say it was gratuitous--the film makers used black and white film and really underplayed the blood but it still made be turn my head from time to time--but the violence was still THAT intense.

Fascinating debut of bold new filmmaker Géla Babluani is a provocative, concept-driven idea, dealt frightening precision and tension, but falters heavily with introducing and concluding the grim scenario. If you do not have any knowledge of what this situation deals with, please do not seek out any plot details, as it will only make the journey the main character (younger brother George Babluani) undergoes all the more amazing. Rest assured that it is not very pretty with soft intent, but has the potential to be extremely gripping with it's loud concepts.

It still remains clear that the film relies too heavily on it's uncompromising centerpiece while negating many other aspects to distinguish itself as total accomplishment. While oozing a little too much self-conscious cool, the acceptable but never remarkable acting does not take hold until the contrived and trivial setup plays itself out. It is only when Babluani's brutally simple, starkly poetic themes presents itself during the brief film's midsection that the justification behind winning an illustrious grand jury prize at Sundance begins to make sense.

Here, this young director hits a gallant stride, creating some of the most uniquely tense and introspective action sequencing in a while. It is a breath of fresh, nihilistic air, as compelling in metaphor for artsy intellectuals as it is engaging in literal form for adventurous action fans. Unfortunately, intense effort afforded the brilliant execution of these sequences vastly undermines the thinly constructed story that was supposed to give this more weight, ultimately proving distracting in an otherwise riveting middle.

Why is this movie a dud?

-bad acting: Aside from some moody brooding, none of the players can emote. Some of the notable performances: the heroin addict, who comes off as a cranky Hugh Hefner in need of some shampoo; his wife, whose emotional repertoire begins and ends with 'annoyed'; the lead, who sleepwalks through the film, whose only depth comes from the addition of sweat stains on his tee shirt, the dumb cop, who delivers his lines like someone reading off of cue cards behind the camera (& why did he park his vw bug literally right in front of the main entrance to the house he is watching, come on, where is the 'AAA Plumbing' stake-out van?)...there's a lot more but I don't want this review to be a spoiler. The one bright spot is the ringer for David Lynch with his wacky hair.

-bad story: the story is utterly laughable. I don't mind implausibility or the occasional plot hole, but this stinker is just over the top. None of the characters has any kind motivation, and the basic premise just dose not work.

-bad direction-There is nothing interesting or worthwhile in the ham-fisted way this film was shot. It looks rushed and low-budget, and maybe it was.

I am not sure why there are so many positive comments. I suppose if a film is in black and white and comes from France, some people think it HAS to be artistic. This film just goes to show that the french film industry makes crap just like the American one.

I see Brad Pitt's company has bought the rights to this thing. It will be kind of interesting to see how H-wood handles this story.

cheers.

hey everybody says that it is a French film, yeah it was taken in France, produced by French producers, but look, director is Georgian, the son of the great Georgian director Temur Babluani, and the leading actor is also Georgian, director Gela Babluani's brother George Babluani. and in the film credits there is written: Georgia/France.

OK, we have figured out that. Another thing I want to say is that, this film has very original screenplay, great music, performance is also nice. Director shows his skills in achieving high temperature in the film. so, I suggest everyone to watch that film, satisfaction is guaranteed. I can say that this film is another masterpiece from Georgian directors.

Generally, I am very choosy when it comes to movies – I do not watch pieces of which 12 are a dozen and that is all we can say about them –, and that is with a reason. But this time I was not cautious enough. 13 Tzameti (which is one more than a dozen) aroused my attention merely by its title. Then, it started to play in my favourite movie theater, and that was when I did not question its predicted values. Well, I should have been more careful, because I was in for a great load of disappointment.

13 Tzameti is one of a kind, no question about that. But it is the most pointless, dullest piece of trash I have seen for a long time. I really cannot write much about it without giving away the plot. It tries to be utterly pure like some of Antonioni's or Claude Chabrol's movies, or from more recent times, those of Francoise Ozon, but ends up a meaningless waste of celluloid, time and money. It lacks a well-established context and is violent beyond comprehension. It is l'art pour l'art violence, there is no point in it, no intrinsic moral lesson, nothing. Even the worst thrillers and action flicks have some aspiration to convey some message, even if they fail to do so. They have a few twists and turns and a feeble attempt to entertain or to deter, but 13 Tzameti offers nothing. Director Géla Babluani thought it was going to be very stylish and artistic to shoot in good old black and white anyway, but it is rather pretentious instead. Outrageously so.

Sometimes negative criticism can be a good omen, but not in this case. Censorship can never be justified, but if you go watch this one you will wonder how it made it to movie theaters. Would my home-made pseudo-artistic shocker I shot with a 16mm I bought at the dime store also make it? Believe me, it is a fairly justifiable question here. But you do not want me to ask it for real, do you?

Yes this movie is in black and white, but if that's what is bothering you, then don't bother watching the movie at all! The b/w just adds to the overall mood of this movie, which is not uplifting at all, right from the beginning.

The movie works itself towards the one location, where some people might be offended or won't be able to look at their (TV)screens! But before that, you get to learn the main character, so that you will care for him. All through the nail biting scenes, that will occur later. And it is indeed nothing for the faint of heart, so be prepared for that! But watch it, because under all this there is another layer (social criticism involved)!

I saw this movie yesterday only knowing that it had something to do with Russian Roulette. I came to the conclusion after watching the film that it is one of the worst films I have ever seen. I didn't expect a face off style action flick or anything but my God, nothing really happened for the first half an hour and there was very little characterisation. On the plus side it is tastefully shot and is quite well directed, however, how much this was due to the black and white aspect making me feel like it was more high brow than it was, I'm not sure.

The attraction of this film is clearly the violence and tension of the Russian roulette scenes, the fact that human life can be so easily discarded, and that men are willing to lay down their lives for money in a game of chance. However we do not get the impression that the main character is worth saving. He is not really put in context and I cannot see a rational human being (which he appears to be) realising he has got himself into a Russian roulette competition and continuing to stay, no matter how much money is involved. The Russian roulette scenes are very tense, the faceless room and stark light bulb adding to the tension. But it is blatantly obvious that our 'hero' is going to survive the game which completely ruins the tension. Furthermore I found myself wanting him to die so that the film would be over sooner. All the filming outside of the roulette seemed to be a waste of time as we get to know no one except the main character. I won't spoil the end of the film but needless to say you see it coming a mile off.

All in all this film was predictable, incredibly dull, and did nothing new. You could, as others seem to have done, try and intellectualise this movie but it really isn't worthy of that sort of analysis. The controversial theme of the film will be enough to carry it despite it being rubbish. A guy plays Russian roulette and wins, big deal. Dull, dull, dull!

The main idea is certainly very good (even thought I was expecting it no to be as straightforward as it is once revealed), but that's about it. If you are French speaking, you can enjoy the bad acting (I think most of the movie is dubbed). If you have eyes and ears you can notice the bad lighting and sound design. The editing is between average and OK. The story itself is very predictable. On a weird way, the artistic choice of black and white keeps the movie from being categorized as 'shot for video'. Anyway, I guess it was made with a zero budget and it is not such a bad start for a director. But, as I saw the movie on DVD a while after the buzz created around the theatre release, I must admit I am deeply disappointed. For once, if there is a US remake planned, I would be very interested to see it.