Election (黑社會, Hak Se Wui)
Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Simon Yam, Louis Koo
Dir: Johnnie To – 2005 – Hong Kong
Election was a departure for the ever dependable director Johnnie To, who has drawn criticism in the early noughties including from yours truly for churning out robotic, unimaginative rom-coms from his Milky Way film factory. But he has gone out to answer his critics, and has led a change in direction to the Hong Kong film industry, writing and directing some credible and well made movies more recently, such as Breaking News, Throw Down, and this offering, Election.
Election tells the story of two rival triad heavyweights Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) who are candidates to become Chairman of a leading triad society in Hong Kong. Every two years, a democratic election is held by the ‘uncles’ of the society to select the Chairman, and Lok and Big D seek to sway the vote in whichever way they can, where even playing dirty goes.
Election carries with it a heavyweight cast. Both Tony Leung and Simon Yam were nominated at various award ceremonies for their roles, with Tony Leung beating Simon Yam (and himself for his role in Everlasting Regret) to land Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006. The likes of Louis “I must look slick on screen” Koo, Suet Lam and Nick Cheung are all big stars who provide a strong backing in the film. And as a result, all the performances are quite good.
Johnnie To has certainly done his best to build respect in this film. It was well received in Cannes, where it premiered and received a nomination for the Golden Palm. However, I struggle to see what is so outstanding about this film. Like Throw Down, it’s a change in direction, but the way the story is told isn’t very new. There is a deep insight into many of the characters, but they never get enough screen time for the audience to explore.
However, I do welcome Johnnie’s attempt to movie the industry on, and he has plenty more films lined up that will build on his experiments. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that he may be the one attract the Hong Kong public back into auditoriums to see Hong Kong productions again. Let’s hope so.
One that can sway the vote.
6/10