Johnnie To’s triad epic may not offer anything new to the gangster genre, but his ensemble cast are a delight to watch…
Just what is happening in Hong Kong at the moment? From the recent output from their movie industry, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the streets are overrun with triad gangs like some modern day James Cagney flick. Tourists no doubt feel they’re putting their life in their hands.
That’s not the case, of course, but such proliferation of triad-themed movies hasn’t been seen since the late 80s, following the success of John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow and Ringo Lam’s City on Fire. Not that it ever went away, and subject matter of triad and yakuza’s are just as popular in Japan and Korea. Nor does it hold no basis in truth, but the success of the Infernal Affairs has brought it back to the fore again.
The latest addition to those ranks from thriving director Johnnie To (Running Out of Time, Breaking News, Fulltime Killer, A Hero Never Dies) adds little to the genre. If anything, it plays like a Martin Scorsese film - everyday conversations and gatherings are underpinned with a violence that rarely actually makes it to the screen, but all the more ferocious when it does. But it delights with a brilliant ensemble cast, including veteran actors like Zhang Che favourite David Chiang (Vengeance, The Heroic Ones, Blood Brothers) and equally experienced director (and father of Wong Jing) Tian-lin Wang (The Flying Sword Hero from Emei Mountain, The Magic Lamp).
In the triad underground of Hong Kong, one of the oldest and historic gangs, the Wo Shing Society, are having their elections to decide who will lead them over the next two years. Lok (Simon Yam, Full Contact, Bullet In The Head, Naked Killer) is the favourite, a calm, respected family man, but his rival for the position, the hot-headed loose cannon Big D (Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Ashes Of Time, Actress, Zhou Yu’s Train) threatens destroy both him and 300 years of tradition when his bribery doesn’t work. Tradition dictates Lok must take possession of the triad’s precious Dragon’s Head Baton before his rival to take his place as the leader of the gang. But Big D will stop at nothing in a hunt that takes their allies over the borders into mainland China.
Johnnie To’s film builds slowly to any kind of violence, instead it underlines the characters on screen. At family gatherings, discussions, meetings. This gives Election a far more genuine air than some of its more stylistic, showy peers. You can imagine, as you could with The Godfather and Goodfellas, that this is exactly what it would be like. (But how could Johnnie To know?) Yes, it’s nothing new, but it is well played, with a keen sense of black humour. This perhaps best shown whilst Kun (Tian-lin Wang) is beating the crap out of Big Head (Ka Tung Lam) for the Baton, both are called by their respective superiors - only to find out they’re supposed to be helping each other!
Towards the tail-end the film gets too caught up in showing us the ancient traditions of the society - building up the reputations of these gang members as ‘alright guys’ seemingly only to reveal how, in fact, they are sadistic killers. It seems a rather longwinded way to get to something we already knew - or perhaps Johnnie To envisaged another, more morally ambiguous film? Truly towards the end I felt rather envious I wasn’t watching the edited Chinese version, the running time of which is over 15 minutes shorter.
Ultimately Election is another solid piece of filmmaking from Johnnie To, but just don’t expect to be wowed by it.
DVD details
Distributor: Panorama (Hong Kong)
The two disc DVD includes interviews with the director and cast, a making of, trailers and TV spots. However, I confirm whether these features have English subtitles or not.
