13 (Tzameti)
Géla Babluani 2005 France/Georgia (1st time; DVD)
A young man in a dead-end job follows up on a letter he finds to his current employer; he ends up way in over his head.
Impressive concept delivered without much conviction; existential to the point of an utter absence of psychology in its protagonist, so that if we are interested in the situation he has found himself in, we care little for the character himself.

Saboteur
Alfred Hitchcock 1942 US (1st time; TV)
A planes factory worker is framed for a fire in which his best friend was killed; he assumes the identity of the real villain, and tries to expose him, with the cops on his back.
Overlong and lacking the attraction of stars, as well as distracting in its patriotic overtones, though blessed with well-handled set-pieces: an encounter between its innocent hero, his suspecting romance-to-be, and a travelling circus; the tense, seemingly deadend situation at a ball; and the amazing climax atop the Statue of Liberty.

Torn Curtain
Alfred Hitchcock 1966 US (1st time; VHS)
An American physicist 'defects' to East Berlin with the intention of double-playing the enemy and taking back atomic secrets to the West.
Generally overlooked spy hokum, essential viewing due to the dazzling use of colour and the succession of set-pieces throughout: the elongated struggle between Newman and a German spy in a farm barn, culminating in an overhead shot of the latter dying with his head in an oven; the introduction of Newman's counterpart and quarry, with the editing making full use of the frame - Newman is shot in close-up, while the other is seen only in the distance, in a rather empty-looking lecture theatre; an unconventionally tense bus ride from Liepzig to Berlin; and a frantic finish in a crowded theatre hall, the exit from which echoes Cary Grant's escape from the auction in North by Northwest.

Suspicion
Alfred Hitchcock 1941 US (1st time; DVD)
A well-to-do woman marries a charming, habitual gambler, and comes to suspect he intends to kill her, to inherit insurance and pay off debts.
Rambling and clunky if certainly watchable thriller; there is something minor about Hithcock's domestic thrillers, and if this is well-constructed as regards a mountingly suspenseful narrative, it lacks the visual touch of his other work.