The plot moves along at a jaunty pace, and I was kept at the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns in the story. T.O.P and Shin Se-kyung pulled off a convincing on-screen romance, and my favourite scene had to be the one where they both lit up their cigarettes with the burning IOU for Mi-na’s debt. I absolutely adored Dae-gil and Mi-na’s relationship – from the first time they met in her garden, to chancing upon and looking out for each other, and then finally becoming partners.
Honey Lee is excellent as the glamorous femme fatale with a secret, and Kwak Do-won‘s turn as the main antagonist caused me to visibly recoil every time he appeared onscreen.
T.O.P no doubt cements himself as a rising actor, with his stunning ability to cover the full emotional spectrum in his portrayal of Dae-gil. The blue-chip cast delivers enthralling performances that shine through even the grisliest of scenes. With his helper Mi-na and teacher Ko Gwang-ryeol (Yoo Hae-jin), can he overcome the odds and win the ultimate game of ‘Go-Stop’ with the highest stakes of all? From then on, he launches headfirst into an old-fashioned fight of good vs. In a large web of lies and conspiracy, he unknowingly becomes the scapegoat and is forced to be on the run from the perverse Jang Dong-sik (Kwak Do-won), who sends chills down one’s spine as the rabid gambler who will stop at nothing to make sure any debt to him is repaid.ĭae-gil also sustains a freak injury to his hand, and can no longer make use of the finger techniques he relied so heavily on. Woo (Honey Lee) out of her money however, the plan goes awry and opens Dae-gil’s eyes to just how sinister the underground world of gambling is. The group comes up with a scheme to cheat wealthy Ms. He rises quickly through the ranks as the boss recognizes his prowess at sleight of hand, and he graduates from a scruffy, denim-wearing small-time hustler to a big-time cheat with slick, colourful suits and perfectly-coiffed hair. Before that, he makes a stop at lady love Heo Mi-na’s (played by Shin Se-kyung) house, declaring his love for her and promising to return in glory.ĭae-gil quickly finds work at an institution run by a group of seasoned gamblers: Dae-gil’s friend Charlie (Lee Dong-hwi), boss Kko-jang (Lee Geung-yang), Director Seo (Oh Jung-se) and Little Madam (Park Hyo-joo). Thus begins his foray into the city, as he seeks to evade capture and escape to Seoul. He starts off by playing in small pools around his neighbourhood, but finds himself in hot water after he tries to rescue his good-for-nothing uncle from a gambling den. BIG BANG’s T.O.P (Choi Seung-hyun) stars as Ham Dae-gil, a young man from a small town with a natural talent for gambling.
The movie centres around the game of ‘Go-Stop’, a popular Korean card game played with a deck of hwatu (화투), or flower cards. Tazza (타짜 ‘ta-jja’) is a word used to describe someone who is a card shark or hustler, using skill and trickery to win at card games. 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.Melbourne, 5 September – The 6th Korean Film Festival in Melbourne, Australia is currently in full swing! Saturday’s film lineup kicked off with the gambling thriller Tazza: The Hidden Card, which is the sequel to 2006’s highly-acclaimed Tazza: The High Rollers. The energy of the narrative is matched by the plot's daunting complexity, but the film journeys into surprising areas. The narrative almost manages to support a love story, though there's no room in a gambler's heart for true love.
The narrative is set out in a series of "lessons" any prospective gambler must learn with each lesson, the risks become increasingly challenging. As such, this often feels like THE STING, but with a more brutal core. 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.
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. 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.