We've had the Wachowski brothers ("The Matrix"), the Hughes brothers ("From Hell") and the Farrelly brothers ("Dumb & Dumber"). The Coen brothers ("Fargo"), too. Now come the twentysomething Babluani brothers, originally from Tblisi, Georgia. They're more like the Lumières, French siblings Louis and Auguste, who were pioneers in cinema. There's a distinct homage to classical French filmmaking in the Babluanis' first feature, the beautifully shot, black-and-white thriller "13 (Tzameti)." Tzameti means 13 in Georgian. Read the full review
A young man from an impoverished immigrant family intercepts a package that he believes will allow him to get rich. He eludes police and takes a false identity, coming face-to-face with a ring of clandestine gamblers who wager on the outcome of a multi-player, high stakes game of life and death.
Director: Géla Babluani
Starring: George Babluani, Aurelien Recoing, Philippe Passon, Pascal Bongard, Fred Ulysse
Run time: 93 minutes
Release date: July 28, 2006
Rating: Not rated; includes profanity, violence and sequences of extreme tension.
Language: In French with English subtitles.
On the web
Official movie site
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"... often nerve-shattering scenes of excessive tension and physical violence."
