Tajja (2006)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

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)

Thrilling entertainment risk

Hong Kong gambling flicks go in and out of fashion, but the genre is relatively new in South Korean cinema, and TAJJA can be extraordinarily entertaining.

TAJJA has style to burn, and from the very start, there's flashbacks, split-screens, hyperbolic action, and the expected doses of melodrama in the story of a young gambler's rise to fame. Most intriguing of all is the Korean card game that frames the action - a game that attracts die-hard gamblers and a small group of cheats who live off the system. As such, this often feels like THE STING, but with a more brutal core. The narrative is set out in a series of "lessons" any prospective gambler must learn; with each lesson, the risks become increasingly challenging.

The narrative almost manages to support a love story, though there's no room in a gambler's heart for true love. The energy of the narrative is matched by the plot's daunting complexity, but the film journeys into surprising areas. It's safe to say that TAJJA will inspire many more gambling features, though it would be hard to surpass the originality and style of this film.