Tajja (2006)

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:

Based On Comic

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 (2008)

Enjoyable slick entertainment

Tazza is the second feature by Choi Dong-Hun, the director of the slick crime caper The Big Swindle. Like its forebear, Tazza manages to weave together a stylish overall production with a twisting plot and high entertainment value.

Also like its forbear, the film runs a little long and could've used some more cutting, not of the aesthetic variety, but just trimming down the overall length to keep things moving. Sometimes the story would meander and there are several characters whose presence seems extraneous. Also, the film wobbles back and forth in time without much reason for the back-and-forth. The use of flashbacks seemed to be disguising weaknesses in overall story structure, hiding the blunted dynamics.

Still, despite all these problems, Tazza ends up proving to be an entertaining ride nonetheless, which is a testament to just how capable the talent pool, from director, to actor, to production designers, etc. are. The story itself is focused on a man with a gambling obsession who desires to become a great hwatu (a gambling game using sakura cards) player. Of course, this apparently requires great amounts of clever cheating and manipulation and so the game is a little lost to the crime element, but I think that's where this director shines anyway, so don't expect a Rounders here.

Tazza is good simple entertainment. It starts a little slow, but picks up steam in the second half and the ending doesn't flounder, so it finishes strong. However, this piece is quite simply an engaging popcorn flick and those looking for cinematic nutrition might look elsewhere. Choi's kept up mostly from his first pick and seems to have figured out this style. I look forward to what he has brewing next time I'm in the mood to enjoy a stylish caper-ey film. 7/10.