Triad Election (2006)
"Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai" (original title)

As election time nears, current Triad chairman Lok (Yam) faces competition from his godsons. At the same time, Jimmy (Koo) looks to increase his business relations with mainland China.

Director:

Johnnie To

Writers:

Nai-Hoi Yau, Tin-Shing Yip,

Stars:

Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Louis Koo	...	Jimmy Lee
Simon Yam	...	Lam Lok
Nick Cheung	...	Jet
Ka Tung Lam	...	Kun (as Lam Ka Tung)
Suet Lam	...	Big Head (as Lam Suet)
Siu-Fai Cheung	...	Mr. So (as Cheung Siu Fai)
Tian-lin Wang	...	Uncle Teng Wai (as Wong Tin Lam)
Mark Cheng	...	Bo
Bing-Man Tam	...	Uncle Cocky (as Tam Ping Man)
Yue-Tong Pan	...	Janice (as Pauline Pan)
Andy On	...	Lik
Yong You	...	Black Ren / Chinese Security Bureau Chief (as Yao Yung)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brenda Chan	...	(as Kwai-fan Chan)
Siu Kai Chan	...	Brother Kin (as Chan Siu Kai)
Siu-Pang Chan	...	Uncle Monk

Storyline

As election time nears, current Triad chairman Lok (Yam) faces competition from his godsons. At the same time, Jimmy (Koo) looks to increase his business relations with mainland China.

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Taglines:

Even a criminal can serve his country

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

27 April 2006 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Triad Election

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$12,696 (USA) (27 April 2007)

Gross:

$54,855 (USA) (3 August 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

China Star Entertainment, One Hundred Years of Film Company, Milky Way Image Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shown Out of Competition (midnight screening) at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. The film was shown in Grand Theatre Lumiere, the most prestigious theater at Cannes.

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Goofs

When Jet is attacking Long Hair from behind with a machete, he slices his neck but there is no blood on the blade, and Long Hair is not bleeding out from his wound.

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Quotes

Mr. Shi: From now on, you're welcome in China as tourists. But you can't do business here.
Jimmy: Why?
Mr. Shi: It's our policy.
Jimmy: Mr. Shu is also a gangster. Why can he do business in China?
Mr. Shi: We made a deal, and he's a patriot.
Jimmy: I can make you a deal. I can be a patriot.
Mr. Shi: What's your rank in Wo Sing? Not its Chairman?
Jimmy: If I run for Chairman, will you give me what I want?

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Connections

Follows Election (2005)

User Reviews

A great sequel

In some ways this is an amazing sequel. It builds on top of the original movie, playing with its themes, but not feeling repetitive or unoriginal. It has its own unique thing going on, yet it couldn't exist without the first one to provide background and the setting. So it's at the same time an enjoyable experience on its own, but the fans of the original get exactly what they were hoping for. Kind of.

Because I still don't like this one as much as the original. The main reasons for this are the technical details. The film just isn't as well-made as the original. In the first movie one really understood both of the competitors, their motives and feelings, their overall goals and the reason why they acted as they did. In this movie you really understood Jimmy's (Lois Koo Tin-Lok) character. He's just an ordinary businessman with triad ties, who tries to set his family free. But he cannot, not without going through the ultimate ordeal. But it's the character of Lok (Simon Yam Tat-Wah) that I don't get. In the first movie he was a calm, collected leader, able to make tough choices, but preferring to avoid rattling the cages. He was a traditionalist. Not so much in this film. I guess that in some ways this sudden change serves to portray the themes of power corrupting without a doubt, but it still felt somewhat wrong to me. It didn't feel like Lok at all, not the Lok I had gotten to know in the first movie.

Plus the action scenes, while good by the most standards, didn't hold that awe-factor from the first film, there was still way too many characters, who were rarely referred to, the plot had some bizarre twists and while the ending solution was a good one, I was somewhat disappointed by it.

Still, this is a good movie, no doubt about that. If action movies are your thing, this is definitely worth checking out. I personally liked the first one better, but there are a lot of people, who disagree with me on this, so you might be pleasantly surprised.