13 Tzameti (2005)

Director:

Géla Babluani

Writer:

Géla Babluani (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Sebastian, a young man, has decided to follow instructions intended for someone else, without knowing where they will take him...

Plot Keywords:

Peugeot | Russian Roulette | Letter | Morphine | Train

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

George Babluani	...	Sébastien
Pascal Bongard	...	Le maître de cérémonie
Aurélien Recoing	...	Jacky
Fred Ulysse	...	Alain
Nicolas Pignon	...	Le parrain
Vania Vilers	...	Mr. Schlondorff
Olga Legrand	...	Mme Godon
Christophe Van de Velde	...	Ludo (as Christophe Vandevelde)
Augustin Legrand	...	José
Jo Prestia	...	Pierre Bléreau
Serge Chambon	...	L'Organisateur
Philippe Passon	...	Jean-François Godon
François Rimbau	...	Un flic
Frédéric Epaud	...	Un parieur (as Fred Epaud)
François Tissot	...	le gendarme Guillouet

Runtime:

86 min | Argentina:95 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

France | Georgia

Language:

French | Georgian | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:NC-16 | France:-16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | UK:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | South Korea:18 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15

Company:

Les Films de la Strada

Movie Connections:

Remade as 13 (2008)

A brilliant suspense film that I absolutely hated to watch!

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.