One of my goals with the 366 films is to branch out of my comfort zone in the way of film. One area that I’ve not seen many movies in is foreign films. Luckily, a few of my friends have made some suggestions of some I need to see, and so far they have not been wrong. 13 Tzameti, which has a 7.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, has the honor of being movie number 30, but can it last all three rounds.
Sebastien (George Babluani) is working as a handy man when the sudden passing of the owner means he isn’t going to get paid for any of the work he’s done. He decides to follow the instructions of a letter that belonged to the house owner that apparently would lead to a big pay day of some kind. Sebastien has no idea what awaits him at the end of the trail and whether he’ll ever come home again.
The black and white, French film is written and directed by Gela Babluani and is a very suspenseful thriller. I found that even though there was no English the dialogue was simple and a quick read that I forgot they were speaking French at times. The cinematography is simple but effective and some interesting perspective achieved in order to tell the story. It feels like the non-spoiler plot is too unrevealing as the above summary is basically the first act. It bleeds a bit into act two, but the end of the journey is where the film gets interesting. It is at that point we find that Sebastien has entered into a competition of life and death where the reward can be great, but the odds are against him.
The film does have an American remake called 13 that surprisingly is also directed by Gela Babluani, but it’s slightly less regarded apparently with only 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t think I’ll end up watching the American version, but I did like 13 Tzameti and I give it a 6 out of 10 mysterious letters.
Berkreviews.com 