13 Tzameti

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

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.

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.

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.

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.