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November 15, 2006
AFI FEST 2006: ELECTION/ELECTION 2
That was fun, writing the BUG review without looking at imdb. I think I should do that more often. Like now. No sense in sounding too sophisticated when I ain't.
I closed out AFI Fest by seeing two movies by Johnnie To -- ELECTION and its sequel, sometimes called TRIAD ELECTION. A couple AFI Fests ago, I missed seeing all three INFERNAL AFFAIRS movies, so this year when Scorsese had his remake, I wasn't as prepared as some of my critical brethren and sistren. However, when he decides to remake ELECTION -- and someone probably will, if not him -- I'll be ready. Funny thing is it's kind of a Hong Kong version of Scorsese and/or Coppola to begin with.
So anyway, you think U.S. elections are bad? These movies deal with the notion that every two years, the Hong Kong Triads elect a new godfather. Candidates for the position may not directly harm each other, but they'll for damn sure wage a proxy war to ensure that the choice is effectively made before it ever comes to a vote. In the first ELECTION, the choice boils down to the cocky, showy Big D, and family man Lok, distinguished by his graying sideburns. In addition to avoiding the cops and having their surrogates battle it out covertly, the key to victory seems to hinge upon possession of a baton passed down through generations and hidden somewhere in mainland China.
What's strange about part one is that Lok and Big D are the main characters who dominate the film's first and third acts, but they disappear almost entirely from the second. This makes things harder to follow for Western audiences unused to distinguishing between a bunch of unfamiliar Asian men in suits. I think a second viewing might be more rewarding, or even goign in knowing that Big D and Lok drop out for a while.
TRIAD ELECTION picks up two years later, as the winner of the previous one (I'll be coy about his identity just in case you plan on renting them tonight or something) decides he wants to run again, despite laws forbidding such a thing. Opposing him is young Jimmy Lee, a businessman who joined the Triad purely for protection and wants out, but when a deal goes bad on the mainland, he's told he can never do business in China again...unless he becomes Triad chairman. So reluctantly, but vehemently, he throws his hat in the ring against an incumbent who's even more dangerous and corrupt than he was in part one.
The sequel hangs together much better as a movie -- it never loses focus from Jimmy (who's a total Michael Corleone type) and his opponent. It also features several unique torture scenes, including some creative mutilations involving dogs.
You might have to watch the first film to properly understand the second, but I'm not sure you do. The second is more action based -- the first had very little actual violence, but lots of intrigue. Sequels are always bigger and splashier. There's certainly an opening for part 3 to happen, but if it does, let's hope Johnnie To doesn't imitate Coppola too closely.
Posted by LYT at November 15, 2006 1:21 AM [Message Board]