Awards and festivals

Film description

One of Johnnie To's greatest triumphs – a film which brought him international fame, and not only because of Quentin Tarantino’s recommendations.
It is a story of electing a leader of Wo Shing triada, a powerful Hong Kong criminal organization, with thousands of people in its ranks. Two candidates, the calm dialogue-oriented Lok, and the hot-headed Big D., run against each other.  Both struggle to pull voters to their side, and their methods are rarely clean and fair.

To focuses on the mechanisms of the elections, which are held every two years, according to over a century-long tradition. Using a hypnotic narration, he shows the rituals and interdependences between the members of the triad, and the role of the police in the whole process. The shift towards realism prevents the violence from being aestheticized. It is an integral part of the criminal world, and at times it bursts out violently, without warning.
In 2005 'Election" received an award for the best Hong Kong film. Now, 8 years later, it is already a part of the very canon of gangster cinema.

Marcin Krasnowolski