NEW YORK -- This accomplished debut feature from Gela Babluani, a Georgian filmmaker working in France, is an intense and claustrophobic thriller whose major plot element should well supplant memories of the Russian roulette scenes in "The Deer Hunter." Not for the faint-hearted, "13 (Tzameti)," a multiple festival award winner that was recently featured at New Directors/New Films, is slated for a commercial release in the summer from Palm Pictures.

The simple yet effective story line concerns the plight of Sebastian (George Babluani, the director's brother), a struggling young Georgian immigrant living in France who begins working as a roofer for an old man (Philippe Passon). When his drug-addicted employer dies of an overdose before paying up, Sebastian comes across a letter and a first class train ticket that seems to hold the promise of some easy money.

Taking the old man's place, Sebastian travels to a secluded mansion that turns out to be a hellish enclave for gamblers wishing to bet on the outcomes of Russian roulette matches. Becoming player No. 13, the young man soon finds himself in a desperate struggle for survival.

Beautifully shot in widescreen black and white, the film works best as a nightmarish vision of male aggression that doesn't particularly hold up to narrative scrutiny. Thankfully devoid of the ironic humor that so often seems to permeate these sorts of efforts, it manages to sustain its noirish intensity for the duration of its 93-minute running time.