13 Tzameti DVD (1 Disc) (UK)

Starring: Pascal Bongard
Dvd Release: 3rd April, 2006
Number Of Discs: 1
Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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13 Tzameti is a surprising & memorable film that references but does not plagiarise other works while mining a distinct character of its own. Shot in stark monochrome, it opens in a bleak French coastal town where Sebastian, a young Georgian immigrant, is working as a handyman to help support his down-at-heel family. He is hired to work at the house of a woman & her drug addict partner, who he sees staggering out of his mind on a beach & later dies in the bathtub of an apparent overdose. During his time at the house Sebastien overhears some of his employers' murky criminal life & troubled finances, & - fearing that he won't be paid for the job - steals a train ticket & a letter of instructions addressed to his dead boss that he assumes will earn him some money. This begins a bizarre set of circumstances for the young man that I won't spoil by revealing here. Whereas the offbeat, dislocated opening could be misconstrued for something belonging to the pretentious avant-garde, what transpires is part film noir, part surreal nightmare in the mold of Bunuel, with minor similarities to The Deer Hunter & Eyes Wide Shut. However, the film is made in relatively good humour, & its protagonist - who rarely speaks - is brilliant as the unwitting innocent.