STARK `13 TZAMETI' TAKES A NUMBER OF STRANGE TURNS.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

With its austere, black-and-white cinematography and a cast full of weather-beaten faces, ``13 Tzameti'' tries hard to ape the hard-boiled crime movies of French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville and his successors from the French New Wave. But ``Tzameti'' plays more like an impeccably stylized version of ``Hostel,'' a hollow gimmick masquerading as an inquiry into the desperate measures that desperate men will undertake. Outside the setup of its central stunt, it's pretty forgettable.

Georgian-born Gela Babluani's debut feature follows sweet-faced Sebastien (Georges Babluani, the director's brother), who begins the movie patching the roof of a crumbling house where a sickly degenerate (Phillipe Passon) lives. Sebastien isn't exactly on the make, but he's a curious young man. While peering through a hole in the roof, he learns that his employer is expecting a letter containing a train ticket and hotel reservation. Sebastien also gathers that there's big money to be made.

When a gust of wind blows the mysterious letter containing the hotel reservation and train ticket out the window and onto his scaffolding, Sebastien, short on money, sees it as a sign. He uses the ticket. He winds up in an isolated chateau in the French countryside, involved in a ``dirty business.''

To say anything more would ruin the setup (though the trailer makes Babluani's love for ``The Deer Hunter'' clear) -- and, as I mentioned earlier, setup is all this movie really has.

Tension, too. I'll give Babluani that. He is skilled at using pacing and silence to ratchet up the audience's stress level. But given that Bubluani has only bothered to develop one character and that you're viewing this living hell through that character's eyes, it's a safe bet to assume that Sebastien will remain safe -- to a point. Once he ``stinks of blood,'' though, his fate is sealed.

While Babluani spares us much of the gore inherent in the story, he also dispenses with other messy things like human emotions. They don't belong in this deadened, dead-

end world.

Once the shock of the story's premise wears off, you're stuck, just like Sebastien. And not even Bill Clinton could feel his pain.

Glenn Whipp, [phone].

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

13 TZAMETI - Two and one half stars

(Not rated: violence, drug use)

Starring: Georges Babluani.

Director: Gela Babluani.

Running time: 1 hr. 30 min.

Playing: Landmark's Nuart Theater in West Los Angeles.

In a nutshell: Impeccably stylized version of ``Hostel.''

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Georges Babluani goes to desperate lengths to get his hands on some much-needed money in ``13 Tzameti,'' directed by his brother, Gela Babluani.