13 Tzameti (2005)
Directed by Géla Babluani

Film Review

Georgian filmmaker Gela Babluani made an explosive debut with this gruesome but thoroughly compelling existential thriller - a film that made such a mark that soon after its release Babluani was given the contract to direct the Hollywood remake.  Entitled simply 13, the American remake stars Sam Riley and Alice Barrett and was released in 2010. Babluani's younger brother George plays the lead role in the original film, an acting debut that is every bit as impressive as that of the director.  The most familiar face in the cast is Aurélien Recoing, known for his sombre appearances in such films as L'Emploi du temps (2001) and L'Ennemi naturel (2004). In case you were wondering, Tzameti is the Georgian word for 13 - lucky for some.

The first twenty minutes or so of 13 Tzameti may cause you to think this is going to be an ordinary, old-fashioned kind of French thriller, the black-and-white photography lending a Nouvelle Vague gloss to a démodé policier.  However, appearance can be very deceptive, and after a slow, almost formulaic, start, the film soon becomes something very different - an intense Kafka-esque thriller which veers into some very dark and dangerous places.

This is certainly not a film for the squeamish (and the reason it's shot in black and white readily becomes apparent).  In fact, it's doubtful whether anyone would have the guts to sit through it more than once.   Like most extreme experiences (bungee-jumping, climbing the North Face of the Eiger or eating a bowl of Cheerios), it's the kind of thing you would only ever want to do once - but it's probably an experience worth having, if you can afford the therapy afterwards.

Like any good horror film, 13 Tzameti is a film that plays on our fascination with the morbid, and in a way that is disturbingly direct.  The spectator starts out as a voyeur but ultimately becomes complicit in what is soon revealed to be the most sickeningly macabre game of chance.  The film's tight hold on its audience makes it easy to see how almost anyone might be corrupted by exploitation entertainment of the kind we see before us.  There's a good moral point here - such entertainment exists only because there is a market for it.  The true villains are not the smart sickos who set the things up, but rather the dumb sickos who are ready to hand over money simply to nurture the darker side of their souls.  What is so disturbing about this film is how plausible is the scenario that Babluani paints, how plausible and how unavoidable.

Another social aspect the film touches on is the exploitation of vulnerable poor people by the wealthy and morally deficient.  The grisly 'death game' we see in this film is just one notch up in the desperation stakes from live organ donation or child pornography.  Wherever there is some unfortunate wretch in dire need of hard cash, there is someone prepared to hand over the money in some morally dubious transaction.  What the film says about our society, particularly the way in which the wealthy West is ready to exploit the impoverished East, is both distressing and chillingly accurate.

13 Tzameti is impressive but it is not without a few defects.  Some of the acting is amateurish, some scenes are badly dubbed and one or two sequences having a clumsy parody feel about them, undermining the realism and the tension.  However, this is really just nit-picking - these flaws can easily be attributed to inexperience and a low budget.  In his first full length film, Gela Babluani demonstrates that he is a director with great talent and imagination and is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects.  With limited resources, he skilfully appropriates the elements of film noir and uses them in a modern context to devastating effect, creating a film that is not just stylish, poignant and absorbing, but one that also broadcasts some unpalatable truths about the world we now live in.

Film Synopsis

A young immigrant Sébastien arrives in France and gets work repairing the roof of a house belonging to a strange couple.  When the man dies from a drugs overdose, the woman informs Sébastien that she cannot pay him for his work.  Overhearing a conversation, Sébastien learns that his employer had just received a letter containing instructions for a job that would earn him a large sum of money.  Desperate to get money for his family, Sébastien steals the letter and follows the instructions.  He arrives at a remote house where a particularly nasty kind of gambling circle is gathering.   The odds of Sébastien surviving the horrific ordeal that follows are very remote indeed...