In the age of the inflation of the “content” of any kind, we tend to be anesthetized and desensitized by the sheer amount of it that is available to us. We rarely ask ourselves how it is “produced” for our entertainment or whatever. The same goes for the coverage of the big events like wars, pandemics and natural disasters and for the banal ones like quiz, game and reality shows. That is how the society of the spectacle operates. So brace yourselves for “13: Game of Death” (2006) by Chookiat Sakveerakul that thematizes it.
Our protagonist Phuchit (Krissada Sukosol) is having the worst day of his life: he gets dumped by his girlfriend and fired from his work, his car is repossessed, he maxed his credit cards and he still has to provide for his mother and sister. The chance of “salvation” comes in the form of the call from the lady from a covert web-based quiz show. He has to go through 13 challenges (one more than Hercules), each bringing more money to his bank account. It starts innocently enough: he has to kill a fly and then eat it, but it gets more and more demanding, bizarre and ugly in any way. Can he make it and what would be left of him in the end?
“13: Game of Death” is Sakveerakul's second feature, and it blends action and thriller with horror elements and a razor-sharp social criticism, while remaining faithful to its comic book source and its spirit. The action is wild, the humour is dark and the film is a wild ride that, as the plot progresses, digs into the unpleasant topics like the society in the state of crisis, the society of spectacle and neocolonialism, even in the country that was never colonized.
On top of that, there is a better-than-average American remake of the movie called “13 Sins” that is not a direct copy of the original and also has some moments and ideas on its own. It could also be seen as a part of a double bill, but the original remains superior due to its no-brakes-held attitude.
