13 Tzameti

13 Tzameti ***1/2

"13 Tzameti" has such intense thrills that nobody has seen sick Alfred Hitchcock's days. Even if you discard the overall plot, there are scenes where you literally want to close your eyes, but can't look away, and where you're at the edge of your seat, palms sweating, for minutes at a time. In fact, it's so good, that an English remake has been greenlit for production, and will be out in 2008. I am pretty saddened by this idea, but there is nothing original in Hollywood anymore anyway. The same thing happened to "Oldboy."

"13 Tzameti" begins with Sebastien, a young man who is hired to repair the roof of a neighbors house. Listening to his neighbors, he overhears a conversation that a particular package should be delivered that will end up making the family rich. And in the nick of time too, as the family is very poor, and is running out of time. However, the nieghbor ends up dying, and Sebastien ends up finding the package. He intercepts it, seeing the opportunity to make a small fortune. He takes on the identity of his neighbor, and is led to a seedy back room, where he meets his fate. He meets a group of men who gamble on each other's lives, in a game of Russian Roulette. Now, he can't turn around, and he becomes Contestant #13(see the connection to the number and Sebastien's situation). And this is where hte film takes an even darker turn, as Sebastien tries to survive each round, where the game gets more and more risky.

I don't want to say anymore, because it ruins the intensity of the situation. Director Gela Babluani manages to do these scenes without almost any gore at all. I can see the American remake now, with heads being blown off, and pretty much a bloodfest, but Babluani manages the scenes without any gore, and any visual aid. It's all left to the imagination. Another thing that will probably change in the remake is the fact that the film is in black and white. I hope they don't colorize it, because the black and white really adds to the dark and seedy tone that the whole film has. And like any good Hitchcock film, the thrills are really the backdrop of a much larger theme. Here, it's the sick things that people will do for money, and after watching this, I can't imagine how the human race manages to live with itself. "13 Tzameti" is a dark and intense piece of storytelling, and will please any fan of French cinema. I was reminded of the French New Wave watching it, and that is pretty rare nowadays.