Tajja (2006)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Dong-hun Choi

Writers:

Dong-hun Choi (writer)
Yeong-min Ha (comic)

Release Date:

28 September 2006 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

A guy with a talent for cards makes his way into the dangerous world of underground gambling in this crime thriller from South Korea...

Plot Keywords:

Gambling | Revenge | Hwatoo | Illegal Gambling | Female Nudity

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Seung-woo Cho	...	Go-ni
Yun-shik Baek	...	Pyung Gyung-jang
Hye-su Kim	...	Madam Jung
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dong-hun Choi
Jong-ryol Choi
Yeong-min Ha
Jin-mo Ju
In-gi Jung
Eung-su Kim	...	Kwak Cheol-yong
Jeong-nan Kim	...	Se-ran
Kang-woo Kim
Kwang-gyu Kim
Kyeong-ik Kim
Sang-ho Kim
Yun-seok Kim	...	A-gwi
Tae-won Kwon
Jae-gu Lee
Su-kyeong Lee	...	Hwa-ran
Jeong-eun Lim
Hae-jin Yu	...	Ko Gwang-ryeol

Also Known As:

Tazza: The High Rollers (USA) (new title)
The War of Flower (International: English title)

Runtime:

South Korea:139 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Company:

Sidus Pictures

Movie Connections:

Followed by Untitled Tazza: The High Rollers Sequel (2010)

The beginning of a new genre

Movies about gambling are very rare in Korea,and none have been a smash hit. I myself didn't expect to be impressed with the film Tajja,which is based on the hit comic with the same name. Coming out of the theater, I thought it was the best movie I have ever seen. The story revolves around KimGonni(Cho Seung Woo),who loses all his money to a tajja while playing the traditional Korean gambling game 'Hwatoo'. For a while he just visits illegal gambling centers,hoping to catch the tajja who took all his money. Coincidentally he happens to cross the most skilled tajja in the country,PyoungGyoungJang(Baek Yoon Sik).Becoming Pyoung's apprentice,Gonni learns the skills and tricks,becoming a master tajja himself and earning loads of money.While he promised PyoungGyoungJang that he will retire once he earned five times the money he lost,he just can't seem to stop playing hwatoo.But the world of gambling is not pleasant as it looks........ I don't want to be critical,but all the comic based Korean movies that I have seen sucked, including the horror film 'Apartment'and 'Dasaeposonyu'. 'Tajja'was different. It carried on the story so swiftly and interesting that the running time of about 140minutes just passed swiftly like the wind. I was especially impressed with Yoo Hae Jin,who plays Gonni's friend tajja Ko Gwang Ryol, and, like all the people who've seen this movie,Kim Hae Soo, who plays Madame Jung,a woman who organizes planned gambling games with tajjas. I hope there will be a sequel,because 'Tajja'totally changed my view of Korean movies.