Go-Ni loses his entire savings and the money that he stole from his sister in the high stakes card game know as “Hwatu.” Go-Ni figures out shortly after the game that he was swindled and he spends the next 6 months tracking down the person that robbed him of his money.

In the process of his search for the swindler, he encounters Mr. Pyeong, a so called “Tazza” (a professional gambler at the top of his game). Go-Ni soon becomes a pupil of Mr. Pyeong and vows to win 5x times the money that he lost on that fateful day. Go-Ni learns that Mr. Pyeong is one of the three greatest gamblers in the land, the other two being Agwee and One Ear. Go-Ni also learns that the reason why One Ear is known as “One Ear” is that Agwee chopped off his ear for cheating and chopped off his arm for losing. Agwee still has a score to settle with Mr. Pyeong.

While learning the tricks of trade, Go-Ni is introduced to a Madame Jeong by Mr. Pyeong. Madame Jeong has the looks to kill and uses every inch of that to her advantage. After Go-Ni and Madame Jeong start working as a team, they find out that Mr. Pyeong was murdered. Madame Jeong also realizes that she is falling in love with Go-Ni.

Go-Ni now leaves Madame Jeong to track down Agwee and seek revenge. During his pursuit of Agwee, Go-Ni encounters more treacherous characters including a mob boss and the person that originally swindled him out of his savings. He also falls in love with a young woman that works in a bar. What Go-Ni is not aware of is that Agwee is also in pursuit of Go-ni. Agwee is finally able to use Madame Jeong to set up one last deadly game of hwatu with Go-Ni.

The cinematography in Tazza was affecting, particularly for its over saturated colors and roaming camerawork. During the many hwatu (Korean poker) games shown in the film, fast edits, split screens and roaming cameras worked superbly to heighten the tension of those scenes. The film made me want to learn how to play hwatu!

Make no mistake about it, you will be impressed with the cast of characters in Tazza. Starting with Seung-woo Cho, who I complained about in the review for “Love Phobia.” In that film he played the prototypical nice guy character that was way too similar to his characters in “Who Are You” and “Classic.” Well in Tazza, Seung-woo Cho, played the lead role of a professional card hustler with a heart in an utterly believable and very charismatic manner. This was necessary because he was surrounded by co-stars who made me feel awestruck. Yun-shik Baek, who played Mr. Pyeong, continues to amaze me with his silky smooth style that can be adapted to play anything from sleazy characters to heroic figures. Think of his past performance in Save The Green Planet, The Presidents Last Bang, Like A Virgin, How The Lack Of Love Affects Two Men as other examples. Finally, I have to mention Hye-Su Kim. She played “Madame Pyeong” and damn did she play Madame Pyeong. After watching her performance, I will forever now associate the words “Femme Fatale” with Hye-Su Kim’s Madame Pyeong character. The screen simply sizzled whenever she appeared onscreen.

The story itself is somewhat typical of noir’ish films. Plenty of non-linear flashback sequences occur that may throw people off-balance, if they are not attentive during those scenes. This is especially true during the first half of the film, where many of the characters are introduced at different moments in Go-Ni’s life. If the fast pacing and flashbacks seem confusing, just be patient because everything gets answered by the end. Along with the fast pacing and many flashback sequences, you also gets twists and turns occurring every step of the way.

Tazza : The High Rollers is a film that fires on all cylinders. The cast of treacherous characters are dizzying, while the twists and turns are nothing short of thrilling. As you can tell by now, I loved Tazza : The High Rollers.