13 (Tzameti)
Jun. 3rd, 2006 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Yes, it was another movie night last night, and this time a French thriller by the name of 13 (Tzameti). It's one of those films you need to go into knowing nothing about the plot, because most of the tension is in the lead character's ignorance and the viewer discovering things as he does. And while it's not impossible to predict more-or-less what's going on, you still have the fun of waiting to see if you were right XD
The film's shot in black and white to give it that noir-ish feel, and that was definitely the right choice. The whole mood of the film is minimal and stark, and the staring contrast the director gives to vital shots like close-ups of faces and a light bulb just wouldn't have worked in colour. Large sections of the film are dialogue-free, with the script letting the actors and the camera spin out the story in a way that flat statements would have spoiled. The score is brilliantly well done, creeping and tinkling along over and under scenes at the right moments - not a score you listen to, so much as feel along with the film.
There's violence in the film, and pretty stark stuff, but nothing shown completely up-front and in-your-face (this was another BBFC-rated print, and it gained a 15, though we suspect there might have been budgetary limitations on effects as much as stylistic choices at work XD). As an exercise in building mood and holding it cinematically, in how to make subtlety work in your favour, this film is very good indeed.
Unfortunately, as a thriller, it's not so much of a success. It's pretty simplistic, and after the one big reveal, there's really nothing left to guess for the rest of the film, everything happening linearly and predicatably. I kept wondering where this was actually going, and the answer seemed to be nowhere in particular. The script had an idea, it just didn't really have a point, which makes the not-exactly-cheery experience of watching it somewhat empty. But considering this was the writer/director's debut effort, it's a pretty promising start.
The film's shot in black and white to give it that noir-ish feel, and that was definitely the right choice. The whole mood of the film is minimal and stark, and the staring contrast the director gives to vital shots like close-ups of faces and a light bulb just wouldn't have worked in colour. Large sections of the film are dialogue-free, with the script letting the actors and the camera spin out the story in a way that flat statements would have spoiled. The score is brilliantly well done, creeping and tinkling along over and under scenes at the right moments - not a score you listen to, so much as feel along with the film.
There's violence in the film, and pretty stark stuff, but nothing shown completely up-front and in-your-face (this was another BBFC-rated print, and it gained a 15, though we suspect there might have been budgetary limitations on effects as much as stylistic choices at work XD). As an exercise in building mood and holding it cinematically, in how to make subtlety work in your favour, this film is very good indeed.
Unfortunately, as a thriller, it's not so much of a success. It's pretty simplistic, and after the one big reveal, there's really nothing left to guess for the rest of the film, everything happening linearly and predicatably. I kept wondering where this was actually going, and the answer seemed to be nowhere in particular. The script had an idea, it just didn't really have a point, which makes the not-exactly-cheery experience of watching it somewhat empty. But considering this was the writer/director's debut effort, it's a pretty promising start.
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 07:06 pm (UTC)I'll be interested to see if tonight's film is any good!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 08:57 pm (UTC)Somebody on IMDB says it's being remade in the US with Brad Pitt, which seems all wrong to me!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 10:44 pm (UTC)Tonight's gets very mixed comments at imdb, but as an antology I'd expect it to, because people will like different bits.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 10:46 pm (UTC)