13 Tzameti - 2005 - Géla Babluani

First time director Géla Babluani crafted this wonderful little thriller about a man who assumes another identity for a chance to make a Fortune. Sébastien(George Babluani) is a handyman working of the house of a man called Jean-François(Philippe Passon. While working on the roof Sébastien overhears a conversation about Jean-François getting an opportunely to make a lot of money. Jean-François dies before he gets a chance to go and do the job, but Sébastien finds a letter with a train ticket and prepaid hotel room reciept that Jean-François had received and he decides to go and see if he can take Jean-François' place. Sébastien is allowed to take Jean-François place and then he finds out what he must do to make the money.

The trailer for this film is one of the best pieces of editing that you will ever see. In it we see just a taste of all of the best moments in the film. When watching the film though, the trailer can be a bit of a problem. When you know where that action is heading, you tend to only pay attention to the clues that are pushing the story in that direction. On the other hand, I am sure that quite a few people( myself included) would likely have never found 13 Tzameti if not for the trailer.

On a technical level, the film is kind of hit and miss. The black and white photography looks great and give the film a tension that would be difficult to reproduce in colour. The camera work is efficient if not spectacular. Music is used early on in the film to try to lead the viewer. You know it is a tense scene because the tense music is playing. As the film goes on, the soundtrack fades into the background and the emphasis moves to the ambient sound.

There are a few plot lines that could have use a little more time, but there is not a tremendous amount that could be improved upon. That said, I am a little worried about the Hollywood remake of the film, also directed Géla Babluani that is in the works.
8/10