It's a thrilling premise. What a shame, then, that Election can't get the basics right.
Comment
10/28/06
Election (2005)
86 %
Reviews Counted: 22 Fresh: 19 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 6.8/10
Rated: 18
Runtime: 89 mins
Theatrical Release: 09-06-2006
Synopsis: The drama-thriller ELECTION centers on the power struggles within Hong Kong's organized crime culture. Every two years, the Wo Shing society, the oldest and most powerful triad in Hong Kong, has to appoint a new leader. As Lok (Simon Yam) looks set to win the election, his violent rival Big D... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Simon Yam, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung
Director: Johnny To
Reviews
Top Critic
We are plunged into this dispute, but with insufficient time to get to know any of these players, they never fully come to life.
10/28/06
Top Critic
Even the violence is unexpectedly unexpected, eschewing the usual cathartic frenzy of bloody chopsocky and arcade-game gunplay in favour of calmly viewed and human-scaled acts of brutality.
10/28/06
Top Critic
May feel a little aloof and dry, not to mention confusing, but there's a solid resonance within the story.
06/06/06
The film's main drive involves plotting and scheming rather than outright violence, though -- unlike the sequel -- the basic good guy-bad guy conflict is pretty standard.
01/03/08
Some real genius and understated power . . . transcends its genre and turns the venally criminal into the profoundly human.
11/19/07
Not To's greatest film, but an interesting examination of the inner workings of Hong Kong's triad gangs.
10/30/07
The film's violence erupts in rare, staccato bursts, all the more horrifying for coming out of nowhere.
08/24/07
Election feels routine at times, though less formulaic than other genre exercises from Hong Kong. The depiction of crime customs is sociologically detailed.
07/13/07
Top Critic
[Director To's] talent for documentary-style realism and navigating complex political systems sets him apart, though his nationalism puts him squarely in the mainstream.
07/12/07
Dense, demanding concentration, lacking any romantic (but plenty of sordid) violence, extremely involving and rewarding of careful attention.
06/21/07
Ultimately, Election and Triad Election -- which benefit from being seen back to back -- play like a mature reevaluation of [Johnnie] To's long-standing talent for splashy, eye-popping violence.
06/08/07
Top Critic
Nobody familiar with [director] To will be surprised by the way he presents stylish violence in innovative and humorous ways.
04/27/07
There is social commentary to be sure, but there are also some solid action thrills.
04/25/07
Election, the first installment in Johnnie To's two-film Hong Kong gangland serial, is a densely plotted, pulpy procedural.
04/25/07
Top Critic
Unlike the American crime genre, violence is viewed only as the last resort. In both films, there is a subtle suggestion that the children of the chairmen may pay the highest price for the criminal ascendancy of their fathers.
04/18/07
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Johnnie To's ELECTION is just the first half of a dynamite gangster double-feature!!!
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Johnnie To's ELECTION is just the first half of a dynamite gangster double-feature!!!
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Johnnie To's ELECTION is just the first half of a dynamite gangster double-feature!!!
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(NYFF)-Johnnie To's TRIAD ELECTION to screen @ the 44th New York Film Festival!
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