Augustin Legrand, Aurélien Recoing, Christophe Van de Velde

Sebastian, a young man, has decided to follow instructions intended for someone else, without knowing where they will take him. Something else he does not know is that Gerard Dorez, a cop on a knife-e...( read more  read more... )dge, is tailing him. When he reaches his destination, Sebastian falls into a degenerate, clandestine world of mental chaos behind closed doors in which men gamble on the lives of others men.

Flixster Users

85% liked it

7,782 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

64 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Gela Babluani

Release Date: July 28, 2005

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DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007

Stats: 976 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (976)


  • September 30, 2009
    Started well with suspense and mystery, then went head first into shock and horror then it kind of went downhill and tried to be all film noir. Was good but bit up its own arse!
  • April 23, 2009
    Although not graphically violent in terms of blood and gore, this film reminded me of a more serious version of 'Hostel' and perhaps a little of Johnny Depps 'The
    Brave'. The black and white filming suited the darkness of the piece.

    It does take a little warming up and re...( read more)ach the main storyline, but once the main body of the story emerges, it transports the relentless fear and adrenalin that the lead character experiences in a realistic fashion. The lack of dialogue at times heightens the suspense and fear.

    An intriguing watch, unlike any kind of gambling film you've ever seen.
  • January 31, 2009
    A wonderful idea is not capitalised on, resulting in an interesting but often lazy film. All the talent and necessary ingredients are here for a classic but it's the film's lack of depth that harms it. The main character is never explored. Sure he wants money, but his actions in ...( read more)pursuing the unknown are unexplained. Later he just seems to take part, before trying to escape, which leads nowhere. The other characters are left shady and for good reason, it throws us into the underground world. Unfortunately it just doesn't make the film anymore interesting. Too short with absolutely no tension does not bode well for a thriller. Perhaps a Hollywood remake could, dare I say it, improve what was a different and enjoyable film.
  • January 25, 2009
    The first time I touched a gun, it was late into my teen years. I remember when and where. Entrusted to my care was a shotgun. The gun weighed on my shoulder and arms. Squeezing the trigger brought the desired effect, but for the life of me, I never did hit a single clay disc...( read more). As the skeet sailed by over and over again, I struggled to concentrate on the target and not the power I held in my hands. Little has changed since that day. I am still a blind shot, yet I?d like to think I?ve more respect for a firearm.

    In the film 13 Tzameti, it is hard to tell if Sébastian (Georges Babluani) has touched a gun before joining a game in which a requirement is putting a gun to the head of the man standing beside him and pulling the trigger. It?s hard to gauge what kind of man Sébastian is in general. He doesn?t say much and nearly every bit of information to be gleaned about his character must be drawn from his actions. It isn?t hard to see, however, that 13 Tzameti is about the power of violence. There?s no moaning about or philosophical waxings by the characters. The content is in the visuals not the dialogue.

    And the visuals are stunning. It?s hard to rave about the beauty of a movie that is preoccupied with the nature of violence, but oddly, it?s appropriate to 13 Tzameti. It?s photographed in black and white which seems to heighten the tension. Without color, violence is reduced to a stark game of survival. It?s primal. It?s raw. 13 Tzameti is not interested in muddying its waters with too much visual or spoken information.

    Instead, we, the viewers, are plunged into violence at its most basic level; therefore, the question 13 Tzameti wishes to singularly ask is ?What is the effect of violence on a man???or put another way, ?How does violence change a man?? Great war movies such as Full Metal Jacket or (the 1930 film version of) All Quiet on the Western Front try to do this but generally sidetrack such questions with dogmatism: The war movie is interested in the morality of war itself and brings the effects of violence into play only to strengthen its arguments.

    Since 13 Tzameti has no dog in the hunt in respects to the merits of war, we are generally spared any debate of ideology. Since there is no debate, only ?the act? itself remains, the act of putting a gun to another man?s head and pulling the trigger without reason, there is only one way we can react. ?This is absurd!? Since the rightness of the actions on screen are not in doubt, all we are interested in is how Sébastian reacts to the ?game? into which he has been led.

    Much praise is required for Georges Babluani. 13 Tzameti is not a piece of thriller hackwork singularly because of him. Babluani is controlled in his acting. He never gives too much away by crying hysterically, moping, gesticulating wildly, or breaking into monologue. When he tries to run away from the violence, he does so without panic. When he cannot initially bring himself to pull the trigger, he refuses to sensationalize the moment.

    I have only one major complaint with 13 Tzameti; however, it undoes what has come before. It breaks down in the third act. This is a common complaint among movies. A great premise is broken by an unfocused conclusion. Since the major question 13 Tzameti is asking is ?How does violence change a man??, the only reasonable conclusion should answer, or attempt to answer, that question. 13 Tzameti does not even attempt it. In the final moments, an unbelievable coincidence beats the viewer about the head with the absurdity of violence. It?s clear the director is not sure that we?ve picked up on this yet. The inclusion of such a silly and unconvincing coincidence by this point in the movie would be funny if it wasn?t so sad that it ruins an otherwise great movie. Only a dunce would have missed the absurdity of the violence in the movie. Why do we need to be told so obviously?

    I left the movie feeling cheated. I had been cheated out of ultimately seeing the long term effects of the violence on the main character, and for that, it is impossible for me to say that this movie is anything other than interesting. It?s not a good film and certainly not a great film. It is simply interesting, interesting to wonder what could have been and interesting to see an excellent acting performance by Babluani.
  • January 21, 2009
    Gets straight to the point and gets the job done well. Not the most re-watchable flick out there, but still very much effective. Watch this before the pointless-full-of-dumb-exposition american remake comes out.
  • November 17, 2009
    13 Tzameti, which apparently means thriteen thirteen, is a very dark suspense thriller. It is quite slow moving but deeply engrossing. It could have been quite gory but the director has chosen to take a low key approach to the storys very substantial violence. That, plus the fact...( read more) that the violence only comes fairly late in the film, seems to heighten the tension more than lessen any shock value. The performances are really very good, especially that of the young star. The characters all seem to have back stories that we are given only glimpses of and relationships that the viewer can only guess at, which serves to make them seem all the more real, though some viewers may find the incompleteness frustrating. All in all, it is an excellent noirish tale with a quite somber conclusion.
  • November 11, 2009
    This film is touching wild side of human being. It touches induvidually and realistlicly. Forget giving stars the films. Give stars yourself in order to judge how much beast instict you have in your side. LIVE ON AIR. Instead of chasing up opposide sex like March Cats by giving e...( read more)-mails , move forward for checking how ready to kill some-one. We are much closer to blood therstiness than ever after II.WW. OR are u still thinking just innocent films what u choosed and no connection with your-self ?
  • October 11, 2009
    If you ever receive an offer for a shady business proposition involving a game to which you don't know the rules, you may want to restrict yourself to an area of your expertise after viewing this bizarre and violent crime thriller.
  • September 28, 2009
    Loved this french film set in black and white...didn't know how it would end up till the very last scene!
  • September 25, 2009
    Last part i.e resolution of the movie sucked

Critic Reviews


January 19, 2007
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

A tightly screwed shocker, a suspense tour de force that proceeds through a harrowing chain of events with alarming confidence. full review

September 29, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Gela Babluani, according to the film's sparse press kit, is only 26 years old but already knows more about suspense than some filmmakers learn in a career. full review

September 1, 2006
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

The film is exquisitely simple, and exceptionally tough, and its monochromatic visuals -- and cast of fascinating, hard-bitten faces -- make it impossible not to watch, even when events become close t... full review

August 25, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Demands to be seen for the juice it manages to wring out of its central gambit but mostly for the directorial career it hints is on the horizon. full review

August 12, 2006
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

... little substance and lots of fashionable cynicism. full review

August 7, 2006
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

That calmness -- and the work of both Babluani brothers is weirdly stilled and mature, already devoid of the need to show off -- serves only to thicken the horror. full review

March 20, 2006
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Aspires to the heights of a Jean-Pierre Melville or Fritz Lang but proves to be more along the mediocre lines of an M. Night Shyamalan. full review

View more 13 Tzameti reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • jessor
    August 16, 2009
    Featured in the exploit "Dr. Magorium's Wunderbar Emporium" by Brad Spengler.
  • kenmitch
    March 29, 2007
    EmptyChambers.com is an online multiplayer game inspired by the film 13 tzameti. It's pretty fun, you actually get to shoot people in the head like in the film.
    If anyone wants to play send me a message and we can try to russian roulette each other.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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