Tazza: The High Rollers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tazza: The High Rollers
Theatrical release poster
Korean name
Hangul
타짜
Revised RomanizationTajja
McCune–ReischauerT‘acha
Directed byChoi Dong-hoon
Written byChoi Dong-hoon
Based onTajja
by Huh Young-man and Kim Se-yeong
Produced byCha Seung-jae
Kim Mi-hee[1]
StarringCho Seung-woo
Kim Hye-soo
Yoo Hae-jin
Baek Yoon-sik
CinematographyChoi Young-hwan[1]
Edited byShin Min-kyung[1]
Music byJang Young-gyu[1]
Production
company
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28)
Running time
139 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$5.5 million[2]
Box officeUS$39.2 million[3]

Tazza: The High Rollers (Korean타짜; RRTajja) is a 2006 South Korean crime film directed by Choi Dong-hoon and based on Huh Young-man and Kim Se-yeong's manhwa of the same name. Produced by Sidus FNH and distributed by CJ Entertainment, the story revolves around a group of gambling drifters involved in the Korean card game Hwatu (Korean화투; Hanja花鬪; lit. War of Flowers). It was a huge commercial and critical success, becoming one of South Korea's highest-grossing films and winning numerous awards. It was the second best-selling film of 2006 in South Korea, with 6,847,777 admissions nationwide.

Plot[edit]

In 1994, Goni (original name Kim Gon), a recent university graduate, has lost his entire savings, and money stolen from his family (his older sister), after being swindled by professional cheat gamblers (Park Moo Sik and Kwak Cheol Yong). In order to regain the money, from 1994 to 1995, Goni begins training in the art of trickery under one of the best gamblers in the country, Mr. Pyeong (also translated as Officer Pyeong). He is the top three gamblers along with Agui of Jeolla province and JJakgwi (One ear of Gyeongsang Province). He becomes well-known, wandering about different gambling places throughout the country with Pyeong. Madam Jeong, who runs an illegal gambling operation and plays the role of the architect of setting the plot in their gambling fraud schemes, begins to show interest in Goni. Over some philosophical differences in the art of gambling, Goni leaves Pyeong and begins working for Jeong, whom he also has a love tryst with. A concerned Pyeong, tries to discourage Goni to leave the gambling scene by cutting his finger, but while Goni tries to cut fingers, he accidentally meets Agui, who is known to kill his opponents after a gambling match with him. While in his usual gambling operations, Goni receives a call that Mr. Pyeong was found dead with his wrist sliced off (initially implied to be a result of losing the match against Agui, as Agui murders his opponent). An angry Goni, full of revenge, prepares to have a proper match with Agui to beat him. While he was having another gambling match that leads to the arrest of Madam Jeong, he meets another cardsharp Ko Gwang Ryol, who joins the dream team that would help Goni's match with Agui. Goni meets JJakgwi who he learns the art of lying from. Goni also develops a relationship with Hwa ran, and delivers money to his family. Before he meets Agui, he tries to beat Kwak Cheol-yong by beating at his own game, but is later caught, but Goni averses the risk by murdering Kwak Cheol-yong's squad in an impromtu car accident. Meanwhile raccoon finds that Madam Jeong is the real killer of Mr Pyeong, who ordered her bodyguard to kill for him. Ko Gwang Ryeol matches with Agui and gets hurt. Goni finally gets a match with Agui, with Madam Jeong helping Goni, and leads to Agui losing the bet. However, as the game progresses it was revealed Goni has suspected Madam Jeong making Agui and Madam Jeong lose all the things they have. After a fight in the train, Goni mysteriously disappears. Goni hiding his previous life ends with involving in another form of gambling.

Cast[edit]

Home media[edit]

5 Points Pictures gave the film a two-disc DVD release in North America on September 18, 2012.[4] The film is subtitled and includes nearly 3 hours of bonus features, including the making of the film, a comparison between the film and its source manhwa, and gambling tricks explained by a former professional gambler.

Box office[edit]

Tazza: The High Rollers was a huge critical success, becoming one of South Korea's highest-grossing films. It was the second best-selling film of 2006 in South Korea, with 6,847,777 admissions nationwide.[5]

Critical reception[edit]

In a review for the San Francisco Chronicle, G. Allen Johnson described Tazza: The High Rollers as a "ton of fun, a totally irresistible tale of gambling, greed, love and violence. With gorgeous actors, designer clothes and thrilling action".[6] Matt Zoller Seitz of The New York Times called it a "terrific film about the sensual energy and reckless optimism of youth" and compared the chemistry between Goni and Madam Jeong to that of characters in Jean-Luc Godard's early films.[7]

Variety wrote that the film's long run time is hardly noticeable as "the gambling scenes, which in true Korean style often end in rough-and-tumbles, are restlessly shot in handheld closeup, while the non-gambling interludes, lensed more conventionally in good-looking widescreen, have a noir-ish flavor, with characters endlessly toying with each other." They noted that despite the complicated script "sounding tortuous on paper" and being difficult to grasp initially due to being told mostly in flashbacks, Tazza ties up all of its loose ends in the end. The magazine also praised the performances of Kim Hye-soo and Baek Yoon-sik.[8]

Sequels[edit]

A sequel, titled Tazza: The Hidden Card, was directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol and starred Choi Seung-hyun, Shin Se-kyung, Kwak Do-won and Lee Hanee, with Yoo Hae-jin and Kim Yoon-seok reprising their roles. It began filming on January 2, 2014, and was released on September 3, 2014.[9]

A second sequel, Tazza: One Eyed Jack, was released in 2019. It was directed by Kwon Oh-kwang and stars Park Jung-min and Ryoo Seung-bum.[10]

Accolades[edit]

Year Award Category Recipients Result
2006 2nd University Film Festival of Korea[11] Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Won
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
14th Chunsa Film Art Awards Best Film Tazza: The High Rollers Nominated
Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Nominated
Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Nominated
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
Best Supporting Actor Baek Yoon-sik Nominated
Yoo Hae-jin Nominated
Best Editing Shin Min-kyung Won
27th Blue Dragon Film Awards[12] Best Film Tazza: The High Rollers Nominated
Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Nominated
Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Nominated
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
Best Supporting Actor Kim Yoon-seok Nominated
Best Cinematography Choi Young-hwan Won
Best Lighting Kim Sung-kwan Nominated
Technical Award (Editing) Shin Min-kyung Nominated
Popular Star Award Kim Hye-soo Won
2007 1st Asian Film Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
43rd Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Tazza: The High Rollers Won
Best Film Tazza: The High Rollers Nominated
Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Won
Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Nominated
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
8th Newport Beach Film Festival[13] Best Feature The High Rollers Won
Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Won
Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Won
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
44th Grand Bell Awards Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Nominated
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Kim Yoon-seok Won
Best Cinematography Choi Young-hwan Nominated
Best Editing Shin Min-kyung Nominated
Best Lighting Kim Sung-kwan Nominated
Best Costumes Jo Sang-gyeong Won
8th Busan Film Critics Awards Best Screenplay Choi Dong-hoon Won
Best Supporting Actor Kim Yoon-seok Won
6th Korean Film Awards Best Film Tazza: The High Rollers Nominated
Best Director Choi Dong-hoon Nominated
Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Nominated
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated
Best Cinematography Choi Young-hwan Nominated
Best Editing Shin Min-kyung Won
Best Screenplay Choi Dong-hoon Won
1st Korea Movie Star Awards Best Actor Cho Seung-woo Won
Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Won
Best Supporting Actor Kim Yoon-seok Won
4th Max Movie Awards Best Actress Kim Hye-soo Nominated

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Tazza: The High Rollers". Variety. 2012-10-08. Archived from the original on 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  2. ^ "Tazza: The High Rollers". Screened.com. 2012-10-08. Archived from the original on 2011-11-18. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  3. ^ "Tajja (Tazza: The High Rollers)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  4. ^ "Tazza: The High Rollers". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  5. ^ "Commercial Releases in 2006: Box-Office Admission Results". Koreanfilm.org. Archived from the original on 25 November 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  6. ^ Stein, Ruthe; Johnson, G. Allen (2007-02-23). "FILM CLIPS". SFGate. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  7. ^ Zoller Seitz, Matt (2007-02-01). "A Gambling, Scrambling Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  8. ^ Variety Staff (2006-10-17). "Tazza: The High Rollers". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  9. ^ Sunwoo, Carla; Jang, Seo-young (1 August 2014). "Stakes are set high for Tazza sequel". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
  10. ^ "PARK Jung-min and RYOO Seung-bum Get Head-to-Head for TAZZA 3". Korean Film. 10 July 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  11. ^ "네이버 '타짜' 영화 페이지". Archived from the original on 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  12. ^ "The War of Flower - Awards". Cinemasie.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  13. ^ "Newport Beach Film Festival Newport Beach, USA 2007 Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2018-05-07.

External links[edit]