| "13 Challenges. $100 Million. How Far Would You Go?” |
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13 - Game of Death
DVD/APPROX. 110 MINS/2005/THAILAND MA15+
DVD/APPROX. 110 MINS/2005/THAILAND MA15+
6
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I haven’t read the 13th Quiz Show, the segment from the My Mania graphic novel in which this film is based, so I’m going to review this film
entirely from a filmic interpretation, so those who know or have digested the film’s original source material will undoubtedly have more insight, not
to mention harbour a greater degree of compassion towards how faithful it remains, or how well it stands as a feature film on its own.
Chit is having an absolute c*nt of a day. He’s lost his job, his car has been repossessed, he’s swimming in debt, and his ex-girlfriend would rather
be stuck with an abusive boyfriend than be seen hanging with him. So, when he receives a mysterious phone call saying that each time he
performs an obligatory task he’ll be rewarded with a tidy sum in his bank account, he naturally abides.
According to the anonymous caller, Chit has been selected as a contestant on a reality game show, but in the film’s initial sequences, we’re unsure
of where this game is actually taking place, and how many participants have been selected. Later, we find out, moreover, his concerned friend
finds out, that the game is web-based, and that’s just as well, and pretty much obvious by the time we find out this information because the tasks
that Chit has to perform, at least some of them, are downright revolting.
So, Chit must perform thirteen tasks in order to win the ultimate prize, which, of course, is a large wad of cash. This is Chit’s ultimate motivation,
and since he’s desperate to “keep up with the Jones’” – although he is doing the admirable deed of supporting his mother and younger sister –
you can bet your arse that he’ll do everything from swallow a fly, eat a plate of steaming human shit, and commit mass murder.
That’s essentially what 13: Game of Death is about, and while its director, Chukiat Sakveerakul, has proclaimed that it’s an indictment on
materialism in the modern world, it certainly does achieve, albeit faintly, this fleeting objective, but its sole purpose is to push the boundaries of
what is perceived to be tasteful on screen, which in itself is an absurdity because what we have here is an exercise in wanna-be extreme cinema.
I, for one thing, found the film to be too long, and if you do the math - thirteen tasks in just under two hours – that’s almost ten minutes a task.
While this doesn’t sound long at all, manifestly, it is, because the film prides itself on an element of pace and surprise, and to the film’s detriment,
some of the tasks are revealed too early within each individual task ‘segment’, and as each given task gets underway, most of the time your
longing for the outcome to present itself because, unfortunately, it’s been amateurishly dealt with to begin with.
13: Game of Death defies simple genre classification: it’s part social satire, part horror, part psycho-thriller, and part action flick, and because it
bends the conventions of genre and form, audiences will certainly find something to like about it, whether your into the eating of human faeces or
not.
But, let’s get one thing straight, this is not explicitly a Thai film. That would’ve at least given it some sort of cultural and clinical worth. This is an
Eastern exploitation film (of sorts) that’s packaged for Western audiences. As soon as the film chugs to its inevitable conclusion, where its
denouement is (sort of) derivative of Saw, you’ll soon understand what I mean. Overall, 13: Game of Death is very average, to say the least.
entirely from a filmic interpretation, so those who know or have digested the film’s original source material will undoubtedly have more insight, not
to mention harbour a greater degree of compassion towards how faithful it remains, or how well it stands as a feature film on its own.
Chit is having an absolute c*nt of a day. He’s lost his job, his car has been repossessed, he’s swimming in debt, and his ex-girlfriend would rather
be stuck with an abusive boyfriend than be seen hanging with him. So, when he receives a mysterious phone call saying that each time he
performs an obligatory task he’ll be rewarded with a tidy sum in his bank account, he naturally abides.
According to the anonymous caller, Chit has been selected as a contestant on a reality game show, but in the film’s initial sequences, we’re unsure
of where this game is actually taking place, and how many participants have been selected. Later, we find out, moreover, his concerned friend
finds out, that the game is web-based, and that’s just as well, and pretty much obvious by the time we find out this information because the tasks
that Chit has to perform, at least some of them, are downright revolting.
So, Chit must perform thirteen tasks in order to win the ultimate prize, which, of course, is a large wad of cash. This is Chit’s ultimate motivation,
and since he’s desperate to “keep up with the Jones’” – although he is doing the admirable deed of supporting his mother and younger sister –
you can bet your arse that he’ll do everything from swallow a fly, eat a plate of steaming human shit, and commit mass murder.
That’s essentially what 13: Game of Death is about, and while its director, Chukiat Sakveerakul, has proclaimed that it’s an indictment on
materialism in the modern world, it certainly does achieve, albeit faintly, this fleeting objective, but its sole purpose is to push the boundaries of
what is perceived to be tasteful on screen, which in itself is an absurdity because what we have here is an exercise in wanna-be extreme cinema.
I, for one thing, found the film to be too long, and if you do the math - thirteen tasks in just under two hours – that’s almost ten minutes a task.
While this doesn’t sound long at all, manifestly, it is, because the film prides itself on an element of pace and surprise, and to the film’s detriment,
some of the tasks are revealed too early within each individual task ‘segment’, and as each given task gets underway, most of the time your
longing for the outcome to present itself because, unfortunately, it’s been amateurishly dealt with to begin with.
13: Game of Death defies simple genre classification: it’s part social satire, part horror, part psycho-thriller, and part action flick, and because it
bends the conventions of genre and form, audiences will certainly find something to like about it, whether your into the eating of human faeces or
not.
But, let’s get one thing straight, this is not explicitly a Thai film. That would’ve at least given it some sort of cultural and clinical worth. This is an
Eastern exploitation film (of sorts) that’s packaged for Western audiences. As soon as the film chugs to its inevitable conclusion, where its
denouement is (sort of) derivative of Saw, you’ll soon understand what I mean. Overall, 13: Game of Death is very average, to say the least.
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