![]() There is plenty of it, though the gore is contained. This is the kind of film whose central premise is that violence is entertaining. It would help but it is not strictly necessary. ![]() There is a fair amount of hwatu gambling and it would help to know some about the game, in particular the ability to recognize card faces. It is also an environment of strongmen and women with its own violent rules. As Go Ni rises through the ranks, he eventually reaches the rarefied heights of the high rollers, where more money is bet than you can shake a stick at. And there lies the rub, for the small size of the cards allows conjuring professional gamblers to win consistently over innocent suckers. The game is no-limit hwatu, a sort of Korean poker, played with thumb sized cards, any of which easily hidden in the palm of your hand. Go Ni is a young man who gets involved in gambling, first as a perpetual loser, then as an apprentice to a master gambler, and finally as an accomplished high roller that is heavily compromised with its violent milieu. ![]() An overarching story does develop eventually even though the particulars pile up like a plate of noodles. A scrambled time-line leads to an initial sense of an impressionistic, messy plot that the viewer will have to try to put back together at the end. ![]()
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January 2023
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