Election (2005)

Well I was a little bit disappointed after I saw this movie. I discovered Infernal Affairs a few months ago and I really liked it. I was ready for another great triad movie but this one didn't do it for me.

I don't mind slow developing movies, but I thought this one didn't have enough to keep me interested. The story is alright, but not excellent. I thought the characters were just OK.

I read a comment somewhere that warned about the violence.. There's 1 scene a little bit violent, but it's not really a big deal.

I didn't really understand what was going on exactly in the end. That certainly didn't make the experience worth it.

Fmovies: This isn't as violent as I was expecting which makes the violent scenes appear all the more brutal and effective.

There are a lot of twists and turns and back stabbing and double crossing all the way through the film making it hard to know who's side a particular character is on.

The plot is pacey with some good dialogue and character development and gives an interesting view of the workings of the Triad gang it follows.

The violence when it comes is brutal, no guns or martial art scenes with special effects, this is believable in your face violence and for all the dialogue you are never allowed forget that the Triad is a violent criminal organisation.

The ending is surprising but thoroughly consistent and believable.

The essential appeal of gangster films lies in the notion of the inter-linking of depravity and honour. And honour is arguably the more fictitious of the two qualities: it is said that after 'The Godfather' was made, real life mafioso started imitating Don Corleone. Even so, mafia chic has more or less been done to death, which is where (to a western audience) a Hong Kong gangster movie, like Johnny To's 'Election'; can be refreshing. Some of the guff about ancient codes may be hokum, but it's a fresh kind of hokum, and this is a tough, well made thriller, the story of the rivalry of two gangster leaders, the wild Big D. and his more thoughtful rival Lok, who (in 'Godfather'-terms) is more of a Michael Corleone figure. One thing I liked was how To makes effective use of quiet but driving background music during the more obviously thrilling parts of the movie, but lets its grim conclusion play out in silence. But overall, it's not in the same league as 'The Godfather', and the principal flaw is that there's no character sufficiently conflicted to win your sympathy. Lok may be an appealing family man in contrast to Big D., but although shocking, the ending lacks the surprise of the ending of 'The Godfather'; indeed, I personally think the 'The Godfather Part II', though a very skillful film, also suffered from the problem that the audience is unable to maintain the necessary illusions about its protagonist prior to the end. 'The Godfather' also had a plot that was not just detailed, but made exact sense, whereas the story in 'Election' is more superficial. I still enjoyed watching it; but the real Hong Kong 'Godfather' is arguably 'Infernal Affairs'.

Election fmovies. Cynicism and sarcasm can be wonderful tools in the creative arts, but when wielded with all the finesse of a five year old, amount to little more than an irritation in the best of situations. To wit, Johnnie To's very long-anticipated and touted Election, the first major HK release in a sizeable chunk of time to receive the city's hallowed Category III rating. Roughly the equivalent of NC-17, Cat III cinema outings come with numerous bells and whistles, like warnings on ticket stubs and special bulletin-type alerts before the show starts. Naturally, every such product gets an added buzz doing the rounds on its behalf, probably helping to generate bigger box office intakes.

Surprisingly or not, there's nothing even remotely mature about Election, and to all intents and purposes it's almost identical in the gruesome department to every other crime flick done in Hong Kong over recent years, with the Infernal Affairs series coming to mind. We went in there anticipating substantive violence, nudity, colorful language and the like, only to be sorely disappointed, leading us to conclude someone managed to convince the ratings board to stick a handily sensational label on Election, immediately putting it apart from the competition (most of which falls under tamer categories). This type of cynical, conniving trickery does not win points with anyone gullible enough to build up expectations, and disappointment indeed featured prominently among members of the audience of which we were a part.

But that aside, Election's in no way a bad triad movie. It manages to feel like a well-researched documentary more than a fast-paced action campaign, and distinguishes itself via several relatively penetrating insights into the backstage dealings involved in secret society culture. However, once you're done appreciating the film's underworld history and politics lesson the flaws begin to surge.

First among them is the pacing, slow and dry to the point of making it hard for non-enthusiasts to sit through Election wriggle or nod free. Furthermore, To's penchant for low key film-making grates quickly when you're looking for the dazzle and glitter of blockbuster artistry. Although expensive to make, Election appears grainy and cheap, not a problem for serious pundits but unhelpful in winning over less in-depth mainstream laypersons.

Another hiccup comes from the plot proper, where not much transpires, really. Simon Yam's himself again, bottled up and ready to explode behind his perpetual smirk. He plays Lok, a mover and shaker in the Wo Sing triad society, an organization dating back to Ming loyalists and their fight against the Qing. Lok squares off against Big D (Tony Leung Ka Fai in his third major role this year), a flamboyant mobster with less of an ethical composition, who believes in vastly more underhanded tactics than his rival's. The two compete for votes in a societal election where so-called uncles choose the next chairman. The movie makes a few references to political issues affecting HK in its dealings with mainland China, and perhaps fancies itself a simile of sorts. This attempt is commendable and duly noted.

Other than that, we must conclude the movie to be lukewarm and too anemic for its own good. Lok and Big D's struggle lacks a compelling impetus, and their supporting cast brings little to warrant applause. Henchmen like Louis Koo as suave and sophisticated mob captain Jimmy miss the sweet spot by a mile, and even usually apt Lam Suet (who ruled in On

This film has some great directing with its suspense theme and its few dramatic moments and also some great first class acting. Johnny To is a great and wonderful director. The cast was pretty neat too. But I found that there were major problems with the script. First of all the story doesn't seem to develop that much and isn't that interesting at all. The beginning was good and simple with them talking about the election and stuff. Then while it progressed all I saw was some people talking about how the election was going and stuff. There was no drama at all except for some scenes where they kidnapped a few members of the enemy elective party for ransom and also don't forget the shock that happened in the end which I won't reveal for spoiler reasons. The only that kept me moving in the film was some of the interesting facts they gave us about Triad street life in the movie. It's a movie I would watch once and never watch it again because it deserves some awards and recognitions for great acting and directing but should be laughed at for terrible story line.

Election marks the 2nd trial society theme movie directed by Johnnie To.

To marvellously casted Simon Yan and Tony Leung Kar Fai as Lok and Big D, as the two trial members who were chosen as candidates for the position of chairman for Ho Sing society, a 100 year old trial society.

While Lok is a man who keeps his cool at all times, Big D is not only impatient, but also thinks that he is on top of everything. Lok was chosen as the next chairman for 2 years. To have the total control of the gang, the newly elected chairman must be passed down with a Dragon Baton, which represents power and authority. Big D was extremely unhappy with the results that he was not chosen to be the next chairman after paying a handsome figure of bribes to the council members. He ordered his man to get the Baton before it falls onto the hands of Lok.

While Big D is getting the Baton, Lok has other plans for him.

This is one of the trial society theme movies where not much bloodshed is needed. Johnnie To puts the greed of the human beings in the movie, where bloodshed is commonly used in other trial society theme movies to show how the greed of human beings can caused the death or the downfall of one. However, no single bullet is used, hardly any gangfights are involved in Election. It's the battle of the wits that makes Election stands out of the rest.

Apart from Maggie Shiu, the only actress in Election with less than 5 lines to talk in the whole movie, masculinity rules the whole movie. Louis Koo and Nick Cheung, who was seen in To's previous film, are casted as an undercover cop and a gangster who sold his life to the gang respectively. Together with some of the veteran actors making their appearance in the film and the excellent script, it makes the only HK movie to represent Cannes Fil Festival 2005.

Election has hardly failed any critics who wants an different trial society theme movie.