The new film Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub is a new Tazza series released after seven years. The previous installment, One Eyed Jack (2019), received harsh reviews from audiences and drew painful criticism that it tarnished Tazza's reputation, so interest focused on whether The Song of Beelzebub could restore the series' pride before its release. As a result, the final installment, Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub, shows signs of returning to its roots while not forgetting its signature scenes and preserving the fun of an adult entertainment film.
The series finale Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub (director Choi Guk-hee, distributor CJ ENM, production Sidus) was made based on the original manhwa of the same name by Heo Yeong. It is a crime story about Jang Tae-young (Byun Yo-Han), who thought he had the world because of his online Big Bet business, and his close friend with the same name, Park Tae-young (Roh Jae Won), who stole everything from him; they meet again on a global gambling stage and wage a revenge match.
Earlier, the legendary Tazza Goni (Cho Seung-woo), the talkative Go Gwang-ryeol (Yoo Hai Jin), Agwi (Kim Yun-seok) and Jjak-gwi (Joo Jin-mo) from Tazza (2006) influenced later installments: Tazza: The Hand of God (2014) featured Goni's nephew Ham Dae-gil (Choi Seung-hyun), and Tazza: One Eyed Jack (2019) featured Jjak-gwi's son Do Il-chul (Park Jeongmin). If the three films released over 20 years shared the same universe, the fourth and final film, Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub, has a completely independent universe. A wholly different era and space unfold with original and thrilling stories of characters never seen before.
Jang Tae-young, lucky since his school days, is the object of envy to his close friend Park Tae-young. Even on days when the sun is shining brightly, a miracle occurs and it suddenly rains when Jang Tae-young brings an umbrella. Although both grew up poor, Jang Tae-young is loved by an older sister who is like a mother, while Park Tae-young experiences a miserable life because his biological mother is spiritually consumed by religion. At this point Park Tae-young goes beyond envy and curses that the world and god are not fair, and his twisted jealousy grows uncontrollably.
Jang Tae-young and Park Tae-young, who entered Seoul National University together, joined forces to start an online Big Bet business that thrived and surpassed 100 billion won in sales. As the business succeeded, the spotlight fell on Jang Tae-young, the "man of luck," and a devil grew in Park Tae-young's heart. One day, while on a business trip to Vietnam, Jang Tae-young loses a card game and becomes $500,000 in debt, and is captured by hired killer Jo Joong-hwan (Yoon Kyung-ho) and Abraham (Swings) and their gang. It turns out everything was plotted by Park Tae-young, and betrayed and plunged into ruin, Jang Tae-young meets legendary poker player Kwak Dong-wook (Jo Woo-jin) and vows revenge.
In Tazza, the master-disciple dynamic has been a core relational setup and a narrative device that enhances immersion from the first film. The first film featured Pyeong Gyeong-jang and Goni, the second focused on Go Gwang-ryeol and Ham Dae-gil, and the third had none in particular. But in this fourth installment, as Goni who lost everything learned hwatu from Pyeong Gyeong-jang, bottomed-out Jang Tae-young relentlessly follows master Kwak Dong-wook and receives poker instruction as if his life depends on it.
In Park Tae-young's eyes, his friend Jang Tae-young was merely a man who lived on luck, but Jang Tae-young seems to attract luck as he works doggedly to recover. The bitterness arises as Park Tae-young's life, which always had luck yet failed to secure his own because of enviousness toward others, overlaps, and through this the film's message naturally emerges.
Above all, the performances of Byun Yo-Han and Roh Jae Won stand out, with delicate emotional expression that is excellent. In particular, Byun Yo-Han plays a character who falls from the peak of success to the bottom and seeks revenge, changing his appearance by losing more than 10kg, and shows a variety of impressions including performing a nude bed scene rated for adults with Japanese actress Miyoshi Ayaka (as Kaneko). Roh Jae Won gave an intense performance, oscillating between psychopathic traits and Salieri syndrome in his jealousy of the top figure.
Also, Swings, who debuted as an actor after being a rapper, presented the brutal outlaw Abraham and handled the role without awkwardness, making viewers look forward to his next work. In addition, Miyoshi Ayaka plays Kaneko, a company head with a yakuza organization behind her, delivering a twist until the end. The film is further enriched by sights of Yoon Kyung-ho, Vietnamese national actor Hong Dao, and Japanese actor Ihara Tsuyoshi, who bookend the film.
With multinational actors appearing, Tazza 4 switches from hwatu to cards, centering on poker as a sport concept rather than deception. It depicts a global gambling scene spanning Korea, Japan and Vietnam, and is enjoyable even for those unfamiliar with cards.
Although the specifics have changed, if there is one lesson that has not changed in 20 years, it is, "Trust no one in a gambling den of deceit and double-dealing."
Opens Sept. 23, restricted to adults, 129 minutes.
[Photo] CJ ENM
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