TIFF Report: Election Review
As I have said several times on these pages Johnnie To is a director I find incredibly frustrating. The man has undeniable talent behind the camera and is clearly one of the finest technicians currently working in Hong Kong but he has an unfortunate tendency to favor flash over character and once the whizzing and banging hits a lull his films often go flat. And yet I keep coming back to him. Despite having frequently promised myself that the next disappointment would be the last I keep coming back, film after film. Why? In the hopes that one day he’d put all the pieces together, that he’d find some content to fill out the form, believing that when that day came he’d turn out a masterpiece. Election is that film.
In Election To has crafted a classic triad film. For those unfamiliar with the triads, they are a deep rooted, clan-like system of organized crime groups tracing their roots back hundreds of years to political revolutionaries. In many ways they are reminiscent of the American mafia but the triad’s roots run deeper and their influence is far more pervasive throughout Chinese society, particularly in Hong Kong where To estimates there are over one hundred thousand triad affiliates. Again, much like the American mafia, the triads have often been romanticized on the screen as honorable rebels, renegades adhering to a higher code of honor. We’re often told that they are violent but noble. To will have none of that.
Like many triad groups the Wo Shing Society employs a rotating leadership. Every two years the senior members of the society, the Uncles, elects a new Chairman from their ranks to lead the group over the following two years. The election is absolutely binding and all Society members are expected to swear an oath of absolute loyalty to the new leader. The film opens as the old Chairman has come to the end of his term, creating a power vacuum, a vacuum two apparently opposite member a scrambling to fill. On one side is Lok, played by Simon Yam, a traditional man, a family man, a man who upholds the old ways. On the other is Big D (Tony Leung Ka Fai), brash, abrasive, openly power hungry and determined to take the Chairman’s spot no matter what. He greases palms in an open attempt to buy the election and when that fails sets his men to steal the ornate baton that is the symbol of Society power, hoping to undermine Lok’s power and setting the two men on a collision course.
On the surface To’s film appears to set up like many other triad films, setting the forces of tradition – the good and honorable side – against forces of greed. But it quickly becomes apparent that To is not about to let the triads off that easily. Scratch the surface and what quickly becomes obvious is that there is no honor to be found in the triad, not anywhere. The old rituals serve as nothing more than window dressing, a way to pretty up the naked greed that actually drives the group. As is said more than once, “All that matters now is business.”
To makes a string of choices that elevate Election above other films of the type. First, he populates this world with a broad array of characters, all of whom have their distinct personalities and quirks. While the sheer number of them can be imposing on the surface as the film progresses they each take a distinct enough shape that there is no difficulty keeping them all clear. The triads do not exist in isolation, they are a true society and To does an admirable job of capturing the extent and complexity of that world. Second, he refuses to glam things up. It’s important to note that Election is in no way an action film. While it has its share of violence and blood To is aiming to capture the day to day reality of this life and the reality is that these are mostly men doing a job. An illegal job, true, but a job nonetheless and as in any job most of the time is spent simply punching the clock. Third, though both Yam and Leung turn in dazzling performances and the plot swirls around their two characters it quickly becomes clear that this is not a film about Lok and Big D, this is a film about the triads themselves, the shifting loyalties, the betrayals, the corruption and greed, the gap between their noble roots and current realities. Lok and Big D are parts of a larger whole and To wisely chooses to focus more on the whole than on any of his individual characters. To states clearly in included interviews that his goal was to create a cultural document, a record of the triads as they are rather than an entertainment based on some glammed up version of the gangs and while I’m in no position to comment on the accuracy of his portrayal that unusual approach is strongly felt throughout.
The film is beautifully shot, well scored and features a stellar cast from beginning to end. With its focus on character and the corrupting lust for power over action it deserves comparison to some of the world’s great crime films, The Godfather included. If there’s a complaint to be made it is that they have only seen fit to release the shortened theatrical cut rather than the full, intended three hour version though there is rampant speculation the long cut will make an appearance on DVD prior to the release of the now in production sequel. There are so many characters in this that To simply can’t do them all justice in the slender hour and a half run time of this cut and it is quite clear that many of these characters have had story threads removed to trim time. The cuts don’t damage the central story of the film in any way but there is so much good stuff in these secondary roles that you can’t help but want more, particularly when it comes to Jimmy and Jet, two of the younger generation.
From the compelling title sequence through to the graphic and shocking finale that stands as To’s indictment of triad society as a whole Election is a ringing success and well worth tracking down. It is worth noting that the two disc Hong Kong edition features English subtitles not only on the film itself but also on the full array of special features, from interviews with To and his key staff, to a slender making of documentary. Highly recommended.
