Tajja

The War of Flowers, arguably one of the best Korean motion pictures based on cartoons, is a film about gamblers. The film boldly anatomises and exposes the underworld of gamblers which seems to epitomise our greedy capitalist society. And it is well-timed, given a corruption scandal involving pachinko parlours that has given a big blow to Korea's already beleaguered ruling party.

As a movie partly comic and partly brutal which deals with working class characters living on the dark side, it outdoes Guy Ritchie's 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. The actors, main and supporting alike, are superb. In particular, Stunning Kim Hye Soo exquisitely plays a Dashiell Hammettish femme fatale who "contrives and organises" fraud gamble matches as well as lures easy preys.

Director-cum-scripter Choi Dong Hun weaves together all these characters and their stories in a seemingly effortless manner, showing his brilliance.