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Triad Election (2007)
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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
'Triad Election' creates vignettes without depth by piling set pieces hard and fast upon set pieces -- none of them offering anything new.
Triad Election lacks the emotional punch or aesthetic dazzle to take it up a notch.
Whatever he lacks in narrative drive, To is still the master of style.
Triad Election is something like a surprise candy, with a hard, sweet veneer and a shockingly bitter center.
In contrast to many recent action films, women are neither empowered nor abused in this predominantly male universe. The visual style throughout is disarmingly classical in the fluidity of its camera movements.
Shameless pulp it may be, but to watch it is to see a master craftsman continuing to refine his talent.
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.
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.
expertly captures the battle between old-school gangster pathology and the new cutthroat tactics of the corporate criminal
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.
Further proof that Johnnie To is one of the medium's most accomplished directors.
The director rejuvenates the genre by connecting the dots between a criminal subculture and a much bigger sociological picture. He’s finally given HK cinema its very own Godfather.
Election 2 is equal in precision to its predecessor, exuding a perpetual sense of danger.
For anyone who saw Election, Johnnie To's masterful, modern reworking of the Hong Kong Triad drama and its mythology, Election 2 isn't so much a sequel as a logical extension of the story.
Plenty of films owe a debt to The Godfather, but it's rare to see inspiration used as successfully as it is here.
Two screenwriters were responsible for this fascinating look at organized crime in China, as well as the continuing governmental policies that make the triads thrive.
Johnny To's superb, graceful new Triad Election actually has quite a bit in common with Francis Coppola's Godfather trilogy.
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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