Professional gambler Goni (means "swan" in vernacular Korean), played by Cho Seung-woo, partnered with the fast-talking Gwang-ryul (character actor Yu Hae-jin), cleans up at an illegal hwatoo game and runs off with bags of money from a gangster. We then move several years back in time, and see how Goni became a card-shark under the tutelage of "Commissioner" Pyung (the incomparable Baek Yoon-shik). Initially only looking for a way to recoup his sister's money that he wasted on the table, Goni is gradually drawn into the world of illegal gambling, especially when the sultry Madame Jeong (Kim Hye-soo) sets her eyes on him.
Tazza, written and directed by Choi Dong-hoon, is, like his feature film debut Big Swindle, a fast-paced crime thriller, buttressed by a fantastic cast and a complex but never confusing plot. It is one of those Korean films beloved by domestic viewers (it sold more than 6.8 million tickets, making it the second most commercially successful movie of 2006, after The Host) but never properly appreciated by non-Korean critics, not least because it delivers like gangbusters on the score of cinematic entertainment, spiced just right for the local taste. A Kim Ki-duk Angstfest this is not.
First of all, let me reassure you that being completely ignorant of the rules of Korean hwatoo games (originating from the Japanese hanafuda, small plastic cards with gaudily colorful designs of flowers and plants) such as "Go-Stop" and "Seodda" is in no way detrimental to full enjoyment of this movie. It's not like you have to know Texas hold'em poker to be gripped by Casino Royale, either. Well... maybe except for the last card trick Goni attempts on his arch-nemesis Agwee (an excellent psycho-sleazeball portrayal by Kim Yoon-seok). That one needed some check-back with an "expert."
As for the cast, Cho Seung-woo is adequate for the protagonist and Yoo Hae-jin successfully brings pathos and sympathy out of an essentially comic relief character. And of course Baek Yoon-shik is on hand to present us with another virtuoso performance, this time infusing his old shyster with an almost Taoist sense of mock serenity (a hint of self-delusion is there, as well). Yet, if The Big Swindle was mainly a Baek Yoon-shik show, Tazza belongs to Kim Hye-soo as the candy-lipped femme fatale. Kim is a confident actress, comfortable with her star status (and her body) and feeling no need to suck up to the camera because she already knows it loves her. Throwing predatory little-girl smiles at her potential victims, Madame Jeong plays everyone for a sucker and derives almost childlike delight from ensnaring dumb macho men in her web of deceit. I believe it is largely due to Kim Hye-soo's presence that the climactic confrontation among the main characters has an unexpected emotional resonance: I wonder if even Heo Young-man - author of the original comic on which this film is based - could have captured as well in his drawings the look of panic, guilt and strategic calculation frenzy-spinning inside Madame Jeong's brain.
Although Tazza does not quite reach the heights, or depths, of noir masterpieces like The Grifters (despite a shot clearly meant to evoke it), there is no contesting that it is a superb piece of entertainment. (For the record, it is far more serious and thoughtful than The Big Swindle, the latter being more of a puzzle piece than a character-driven drama) With movies like Tazza available for their theatergoing expedition, Korean viewers have little reason to turn to Tom Cruise in designer glasses blowing things up.