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#03 FUNNY GAMES
03/09/2005
Gela Babluani's first feature is an impressionist black and white film which, as the title suggests, deals with chance as a major factor in anybody's destiny.
Sebastien, a young immigrant who works as a carpenter on the rooftop of a very strange house, immediately becomes not only the witness, but also the protagonist of its owner's activities. After the latter's sudden death, he finds an envelope with mysterious instructions he starts following, thus entering a deadly mechanics which unfolds implacably. When he realises he is a pawn in a cruel game where only one player survives, there is no turning back; he is trapped in a claustrophobic space where the basest human instincts are given free rein to, where the smell of blood turns all men into mad and sweaty beasts.
If the game illustrates the power people have on one another, its final result is completely arbitrary. Sebastien is a Kafka-ian victim whose useless sacrifice raises metaphysical questions. In fact, when he enters the game, somebody tells him ironically, 'take it with philosophy', as if any of this made sense. In 13 (Tzameti), there is no innocent victim, the observer is as guilty as the actual murderer, and the frontier between passive and active behaviour is blurred. Babluani's film is an aesthetic variation on a universal theme (which explains why the film is not supposed to have a specific location but happens in a no man's land), the utter absurdity of life.
Why did you choose to film in black and white?
In my mind, I always saw this story in black and white. I was also very much influenced by my first cinematic experiences. The first films I saw were sovietic movies, most of them in black and white, with long silent shots, Eisenstein-style. When I was small, my father (the Georgian director Temur Babluani), used to take me to the editing room. I would sit and watch the mute images which were so eloquent that I felt I did not need dialogues. The aesthetics of my film translates that.
The first scene is enigmatic, and could very well have served as a conclusion to the story.
I voluntarily created this loop. It has to do with the character's motivations to enter the game; besides curiosity, he has a 'social' reason for following the enigmatic instructions in the envelope. His family is poor, and he pretty much sacrifices himself in order to give them more money.
What are your influences, besides Russian cinema?
I love Italian directors, especially Fellini. In my film, during the 'game', I tried to use the same kind of long shots; I reckon it is the only way to create such a disturbing and tense atmosphere. It is also more comfortable for the actors, whom I took my time (nearly five months) to find, for I needed expressive faces, the kind of faces you can film for hours and still find interesting.
Bénédicte Prot
www.cineuropa.org
In the photogallery, pictures by Michele Lamanna
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Gela Babluani |
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