EIFF Review: Tzameti

Posted by: Scott Hayes  •  October 2, 2006 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

Once, a year ago, my wife and I were on vacation and staying at a hotel, the kind where you can order movies to play on your TV for only $15 a pop, or close to it. We ordered The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, not because it was supposed to be that good, but because it could've been and neither of us had seen it yet.

We watched that thing for 10 or 15 minutes in complete bewilderment. Suddenly it dawned on us that somehow, somewhere, a computer glitch had started the show about an hour into the normal screen time. For 10 or 15 minutes there was action and dialogue pertaining to something that we couldn't figure out at all.

The same thing happens, sans glitch, in Tzameti for about 40 or 45 minutes. There are characters, a sick man, his mean wife, a roofer, and some policemen. Something about a letter. The sick guy dies, the roofer takes the letter with train ticket and goes away. Something about making a lot of money.

Tzameti is shot in black and white, in French, with subtitles. Frankly it's all just subtext with no context. Recap: let's see here. It's European so that's good. Black and white. Could be artsy (or just cheap). Baffling as a mofo though. Only at about the halfway point do we begin to understand what this roofer is getting himself into. For the last half of the movie we struggle to care about his circumstances and the predictable eventual outcome. After all, he didn't need to be there. No spoiler but a small hint: It's a twisted place, kind of like Eli Roth's Hostel with less nudity and less variety in violence. Okay, I'll spoil it. It's a grand scale Russian roulette tournament. Wow! That doesn't make it any better though. Just more Euro. Take that as you will.

Tzameti is playing at the Empire Theatre on Saturday, September 30th at 7:00pm. For more information visit www.edmontonfilmfest.com.