# Tazza: The High Rollers

Tazza: The High Rollers (Korean: 타짜) 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 (Korean: 화투; 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

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 cheating 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, traveling to 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 encourage 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.
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, seeking revenge, prepares to have a proper match with Agui. While he is playing another match that leads to the arrest of Madam Jeong, he meets another cardsharp, Ko Gwang Ryol, who joins the dream team to help Goni win his match with Agui. Goni meets JJakgwi, from whom he learns the art of lying. 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 at his own game. He is later caught, but Goni murders Kwak Cheol-yong's squad in an impromptu car accident.
Meanwhile, Raccoon finds that Madam Jeong is the real murderer of Mr Pyeong; she had her bodyguard kill him. Ko Gwang Ryeol plays against 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 is revealed Goni has suspected Madam Jeong, and makes Agui and Madam Jeong lose everything they have. After a fight on a train, Goni mysteriously disappears. Goni, hiding his previous life, becomes involving in another form of gambling.

## Cast

* Cho Seung-woo as Kim Goni
* Kim Hye-soo as Madam Jeong
* Yoo Hae-jin as Ko Gwang-ryeol
* Baek Yoon-sik as Mr. Pyeong
* Kim Yoon-seok as Agui
* Kim Eung-soo as Kwak Cheol-yong
* Kim Sang-ho as Park Moo-seok
* Lee Soo-kyung as Hwa-ran
* Park Soo-young as Go Ni's Uncle
* Kim Jung-nan as Se-ran
* Jo Sang-geon as Raccoon (detective)
* Huh Young-man (cameo)

## Home media

5 Points Pictures gave the film a two-disc DVD release in North America on September 18, 2012. 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

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.

## Critical reception

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". 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.
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.

## Sequels

A sequel, 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.
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.

## Accolades

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