Whatever he lacks in narrative drive, To is still the master of style.
Triad Election (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 46
Fresh: 44
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Consensus: Taking its cues from the Godfather series, Triad Election understands how a giddy mix of thrills and gunplay can make for compelling cinema.
Theatrical Release:Apr 25, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Wo Sing is Hong Kong’s oldest Triad Society. Under the leadership of its current Chairman Lok, it has grown to become the most feared crime organization in the city. Jimmy (Louis Koo), a... Wo Sing is Hong Kong’s oldest Triad Society. Under the leadership of its current Chairman Lok, it has grown to become the most feared crime organization in the city. Jimmy (Louis Koo), a twenty-first-century gangster with an M.B.A., wants to go clean by building a legitimate business empire. His profit-making enterprises have already made him a favorite in the upcoming Chairman election, but his popularity has also brought him to the attention of the Chinese authorities, who believe he is the perfect middleman to bring the Triads and the Central Government into peaceful co-existence. The Chinese authorities offer Jimmy access to the Mainland’s business market should he choose to lead Wo Sing for the next two years. The irony is not lost on Jimmy: in order to escape the Triads, first he must become their leader. -- © Tartan Films [More]
Starring: Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Suet Lam, Andy On
Starring: Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Suet Lam, Andy On, Mark Cheng, Nick Cheung, Siu-Fai Cheung, Ka Tung Lam
Director: Johnnie To
Director: Johnnie To
Screenwriter: Nai-Hoi Yau, Tin-shing Yip
Producer: Johnny To, Dennis Law
Composer: Robert Ellis-Geiger
Studio: Tartan Films
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Reviews for Triad Election
Drips with a thick, Stygian darkness, but also offers violence that's too explicit and willfully perverse to be thoughtfully disturbing. . . . a little too overwrought, too operatic after its regal predecessor.
The exposition is perfectly balanced with bloody action and muscular set-pieces.
The film's violence erupts in rare, staccato bursts, all the more horrifying for coming out of nowhere.
If it is too stylistically modest to win converts among the multiplex crowd, the film surely rewards followers of the genre.
tackles big ideas like the preservation of tradition and the overall reach of destiny, but also slyly suggests that the Triad of the 21st Century has evolved into something like a giant corporation.
If Machiavelli's The Prince and Sun Tzu's The Art of War translate to other centuries and cultures, so might Election and Triad Election.
[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.
This remains a well-crafted genre movie, and one that promises further developments in its final scene.
Dense, demanding concentration, lacking any romantic (but plenty of sordid) violence, extremely involving and rewarding of careful attention.
Like the late John Frankenheimer, director To marries his drama with action and superb composition to achieve compelling results at times.
If you're willing to do the work, Triad Election pays you in tragedy.
... exhibit A in the case for the Hong Kong gangster film as the new genre standard.
Shameless pulp it may be, but to watch it is to see a master craftsman continuing to refine his talent.
Into a season of Hollywood blockbusters, this import arrives with the impact of a high-velocity bullet.
Like any good sequel, this film takes what is familiar with the original's concept -- in this case, an internecine struggle for supremacy -- and deepens it.
Triad Election is slow-burning and sedate, even dull in stretches. But it deserves credit for presenting such a courageous critique of the Chinese system, which combines the worst aspects of official corruption and mob lawlessness.
Latest News for Triad Election
September 18, 2007:
RT on DVD: It's Death Proof Time!
If you've been itching for a good rental, you're in luck -- even the gambles this week are near Fresh on the Tomatometer! Tarantino fans already know to look for his Death Proof... More...
April 26, 2007:
Critical Consensus: This Film Is "Condemned"; "Next" Vexes; Guess "Invisible," "Kickin' It" Tomatometers!
This week at the movies, we've got clairvoyants ("Next," with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore), cons ("The Condemned," starring Steve Austin and Vinnie... More...
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