13: Game of Death

There are bad days and very bad days with salesman Chit experiencing one of the latter.  A friend of his hooked him up with a school where he can sell musical instruments only to find that another salesman has beaten him to the punch.  Returning to the office, Chit is summoned to see the boss who tells him his figures aren't good enough and gives him a resignation letter to sign, meaning that they won't give him a negative reference when he applies for another job.
 
When his car is towed and he is broke, he sits in the stairwell looking at his bank and credit card statements when his cell phone rings and his mother asks him for 8,000 baht so his sister can enrol in school.  Chit tells her he will get her the money and then tears up his statements in a fit of utter desperation and anger.  If this wasn't bad enough, there is a persistent fly buzzing around him.
 
 

 
Suddenly his phone rings again and a voice tells him that he has been selected as a contestant for a show which could potentially earn him a lot of money.  The person on the other end seems to know an awful lot about him and even asks him if that fly is annoying him yet.  The mysterious caller explains that he will be given 13 challenges with the reward for each increasing every time, all he has to do is follow instructions exactly, not let anyone know what is really happening and if he fails to complete a challenge then all the money will go.  Though suspicious, Chit accepts and agrees to the first challenge which is to kill the fly with a newspaper that has mysteriously appeared by him.  When he swats the fly his phone buzzes with a text telling him that 10,000 baht has just been deposited in his account.  The next challenge is to eat the fly which brings him even more money. 
 
From here, each challenge gets increasingly strange or disgusting but the possibility of winning 100 million baht is incentive enough to put his qualms and squeamishness behind him and carry on playing.  Chit's sudden change in behaviour is puzzling his girlfriend and she wants to find out what is happening but when Chit won't tell her anything she starts looking for clues.
 
 
 
This is adapted from a comic and has the feel of one, mixed in with the 'businessman with nothing to lose' attitude from films like Falling Down and the challenges reminded me of Tyler Durden's homework assignments from Fight Club.   The film has a strange mix of dark, offbeat humour, horror and real human drama which shouldn't work but does.  I enjoyed it very much with inexperienced actor Krissada Sukosol doing a great job managing not to overact in the most bizarre and horrendous situations - when he is required to display a great deal of emotion, he does and looks like he is on the verge of a breakdown. 
 
I was a little wary as to how this would turn out as it is produced by Prachya Pinkaew, the man responsible for the martial arts extravaganzas Ong-Bak, Warrior King and Chocolate all of which lack characterisation, depth and narrative, and directed by Chukiat Sakveerakul, who was the writer of Chocolate.  Oddly, 13: Game of Death is two years older than Chocolate but is only just being released in the UK.  I liked this much more than the martial arts movies from the Baa-Ram-Ewe production company and was surprised at how different it was to their other films.
 
 
 

The Disc

 
Extra Features
There is an interesting twelve minute behind the scenes featurette with plenty of B-roll footage showing how they executed certain stunts and the camaraderie behind the camera.  The disc also has a trailer.
 
The Picture
A crisp transfer shows the excellent camerawork very well and the make-up and prosthetics make the film surprisingly believable.  There is one moment (I won't say what so as not to spoil your enjoyment) that really makes your stomach turn as it looks so realistic but another scene is played more for laughs so the prop is not quite so authentic.
 
The Sound
Both the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo are nice and clear with the surround track having the edge in the more claustrophobic and action oriented scenes. The subtitles are clear and easy to read with only a couple of typographical errors, nothing to spoil your enjoyment.  The film is very well scored with some moments of real tension.
 
 
 
Final Thoughts
I expected something much shallower and with less narrative drive and characterisation than 13: Game of Death has and, if I didn't know otherwise, wouldn't have associated it with the team behind Ong-Bak and the other Thai martial arts blockbusters.
 
As people will do just about anything for fame and fortune on television, this is an interesting commentary on just how far someone will go to get out of financial difficulties and Chit is faced with the dilemma of 'how far is too far?'.  13: Game of Death is an involving and wickedly funny film with a thought provoking sub-plot and is well worth a watch.