13 Tzameti is top-notch suspense in almost every aspect. French director Géla Babluani crafts a masterful thriller based on a basically messed up version of Russian Roulette. While the exposition is a little bit slow and drawn out, once the main character (played by George Babluani) starts rolling the film never lets up, drawing you into this depraved world of drugs and violence. Everything is utilized to outstanding effect, such as the big fat sweaty guy asking for a chair, which, in the scene, frustratingly draws out the revelation of the gruesome outcome of one of the rounds.
The long, overdrawn beginning is nonetheless very unique in its style and delivery in that it creates a sense of foreboding and the unknown through very minimalist ways, which is usually uncharacteristic of a suspense film. The scenes of George working on the roof of the morphine addict’s house are somehow captivating, and though dull compared with the rest of the work, they keep you interested as to what will happen next, where the film is going. The suspense really begins to kick in when George takes a letter from the guy, which he knows is connected to a mysterious money venture that the man was involved in.
Soon, when George is plunged into a world of brutal violence and disgusting depravity, the film becomes a perfect exercise in white-knuckle suspense. The game is the ultimate judgment of life and death, and it is played out to horrific and tragic consequences. The amazing part of it is how unsympathetic the execution of the movie is. The game is showed in such a matter-of-fact, run-of-the-mill manner, creating almost unbearable tension as more and more players are lost to its violent nature. Everything about these scenes are done extremely well, especially the Leone-esque close-ups of sweaty faces and gun barrels. I took those images as tributes to that director’s revolutionary style of suspense (I am referring to, of course, the final scene of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, during which my head exploded).
I especially enjoyed the director’s use of drugs as a symbol of the depravity of the culture represented at the game. One man passes out after coming completely trashed, and morphine is used to calm a man down who refuses to reenter the game for a very rational fear of death. As one of the main character’s attendants says, ”Morphine’s cool as shit! Everyone here does it!” It’s such a deceptively simple statement, but it works so perfectly in the film. The character’s ability to rise above the immorality of his situation is shown by his refusal to even go near them, or even to drink alcohol.
In the end, it seems as though the theme of the film is the character’s loss of innocence at the hands of something so vile and horrific. It brings to mind Llewellyn Moss in No Country for Old Men in that both characters take something that doesn’t belong to them and are plunged into worlds of almost unfathomable violence and sadism. However, all in all, the film is meant to be suspense. And it is exceptional suspense, at that. Even the black-and-white film is used as means of suspense, since it creates an isolated, dreamlike world in that lonely house that most of the action occurs in. It also pays homage to Hitchcockian classics in several sequences, most notably the evocative final scene on the train.
I very much agree that with this film, the less you know about it the better off your viewing experience will be. You need to go into it with an open mind, not expecting anything, and next thing you know, you will be on the edge of your seat, riveted as to what will happen next, who is going to die next. It is a great film for those who are merely looking for a stylish, well-made thrill ride.