Bloodtype Online

    Sebastien, a young laborer, is repairing the roof of a mysterious and ill man.  Coming from a poor family, he is intent on completing this job and perhaps getting an advance on his salary to help out at home.  Through holes in the roof, he is able to catch snippets of conversation that help explain the tension around this strange home.  His employer, Jean Francois, is agitated about obtaining money from an unknown job.  He doesn’t know if he will be able to complete this job, but if he can, in just one day he will earn a large, but unspecified amount.  He’s just waiting to be summoned.  Everything is sneaky and suspicious—even his own wife seems to spy on him.  
Outside the home, another man sits with a camera, making careful note of all he sees.  He is particularly excited when a striped envelope arrives.  In it, there is a train ticket and a reservation for a hotel in Paris.  In a mere trick of fate, this envelope accidentally ends up mixed in with Sebastien’s tools.  Desperate for money, Sebastien decides to go, but he has no idea what he is getting into.   

     The audience is as clueless as Sebastien.  He doesn’t seem to notice that he is being followed and watched the whole time, but that is our only advantage.  Upon his arrival at the hotel, he receives a phone call directing him to a train station locker.  He is instructed to use the train ticket inside, but to get off at the stop just before.  He also finds a mysterious card and some cash.  After he gets off the train, he embarks on a long trip designed to evade anyone following him.  The tension slowly builds and each new car ride, each new destination, provides no new information, but plenty of discomfort. 

    At the same time, we discover that the police are involved.  They had been watching Jean Francois and they are desperate to find out exactly where Sebastien was going.  They hunt down his first driver, but to no avail.  By nightfall, Sebastien arrives at his final location, large country estate.  Sebastien is led to a room on the second floor, only the men inside do not recognize him.  They know he isn’t supposed to be there, but it doesn’t matter.  They fear the cops, but there is too much at stake.  Sebastien cannot leave.  He must stay and play the game.   

    13 Tzameti is a gem of psychological tension and dread.  Shot entirely in black and white, this film is stark and suspenseful.  Revelation of detail is expertly handled.  The acting is top notch.  Dialogue is kept short and direct and every actor involved possesses a real mastery of facial expressions and body language.  This plot has some real weight to it, but it is the acting that propels each scene forward. 

    The less you know about this intense French thriller before viewing, the better. Don’t even watch a trailer.  I had no idea what was going to happen, only that each tiny piece of information I discovered led me to believe it couldn’t possibly be good.  This practically unbearable ignorance is well rewarded.  I was completely sucked in and mesmerized—relieved that I finally knew the big secret, but only momentarily.  Then it’s time to deal with the shocking ramifications. 

****

Jennie Milojevic