''Election 2'' (literal title: ''
Black Society: Harmony is a Virtue''), also known as ''Triad Election'' in the United States, is a 2006
Category III Hong Kong
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed by
Johnnie To
Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...
with a large
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
including
Louis Koo
Louis Koo Tin-lok ( zh, t=古天樂; born 21 October 1970) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001. After 2001, he f ...
,
Simon Yam
Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...
and
Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director.
Background
He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...
. A
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the 2005 film ''
Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'', the film concludes the events of the first film centring on triad boss Lok, who struggles to get re-elected as his two-year term approaches its end. He faces competition from Jimmy, who wants to retire from the triad to be a legitimate businessman, but gets drawn into the conflict surrounding the election.
''Election 2'' enjoyed box office success in Hong Kong and being shown as an "Official Selection" at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official selection Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the ...
. Afterwards, it became a popular hit on the international festival circuit.
Stephen Teo, author of ''Director in Action: Johnnie To and the Hong Kong Action Film'' (2007), wrote that "''Election 2'' is the most directly political film made in Hong Kong in the post-97 era."
Plot
Lok, who was elected chairman of the Hong Kong triad
Wo Lin Shing at the end of the
first film, contemplates breaking tradition by seeking to be re-elected for a second term once his two-year term expires. He faces challenge from his protégés Jimmy, Kun and Jet.
Jimmy has been trying to distance himself from the triad's criminal activities and focus on legitimate businesses in Hong Kong and Mainland China. During a trip to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, Jimmy gets arrested by the Mainland Chinese police and meets Assistant Police Chief Shi, who makes a deal with him: If Jimmy wants to continue doing business in Mainland China, he must become Wo Lin Shing's next chairman and help the police maintain peace and order among the triads. Jimmy reluctantly accepts the offer and becomes one of the candidates in the upcoming election.
Lok negotiates with Kun and convinces Kun to team up with him for the election, claiming that the triad elders will support them. Kun then kidnaps Jimmy's business partner Mr Kwok and hides him in a coffin together with Big-Head. Lok also sends Jet to assassinate Jimmy but Jet fails. Jimmy lets Jet go but warns him that Lok will get rid of him too eventually. Meanwhile, Lok takes the Dragonhead Baton, the symbol of the chairman's authority, and hides it in Guangzhou. He also murders triad elder Uncle Teng when the latter criticises him for breaking tradition and becoming too greedy for power.
In the face of an escalating conflict, Jimmy and his supporters kidnap Lok's lieutenants and intimidate or bribe them into siding with him. Jimmy also exposes Kun for kidnapping Mr Kwok and Big-Head, causing Kun to go on the run from the police. He then orders Lok's lieutenants to murder Lok when Lok is exhausted after chasing his estranged teenage son. With his opponents eliminated, Jimmy wins the election and becomes Wo Lin Shing's chairman.
When Jimmy visits Guangzhou again, Assistant Police Chief Shi congratulates him on his victory and passes him the Dragonhead Baton, which the police have seized. He also tells Jimmy that he hopes that Jimmy will serve as Wo Lin Shing's chairman indefinitely so that the triad becomes a "family enterprise". Jimmy, who had initially hoped to go "clean" once his two-year term expires so that his family will not be affected by his association with the triad, is furious and horrified to hear that. When he learns that his wife is now pregnant, he contemplates how his family is going to be stuck in a life they do not want to be in.
Cast
*
Louis Koo
Louis Koo Tin-lok ( zh, t=古天樂; born 21 October 1970) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001. After 2001, he f ...
as Jimmy Lee
*
Simon Yam
Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...
as Lam Lok
*
Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director.
Background
He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...
as Jet
*
Gordon Lam
Gordon Lam Ka-tung (林家棟; born 21 September 1967) is a Hong Kong actor, film producer and screenwriter. Initially known for his supporting roles in films directed by Andrew Lau and Johnnie To, Lam eventually became a lead actor in the Hon ...
as Kun
*
Cheung Siu-fai
Cheung Siu-fai (; born 4 February 1963), also known as Eddie Cheung, is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for his many supporting or everyman roles similar to Liu Kai-chi
Dick Liu Kai-chi (, 30 September 1953 – 28 March 2021) was a Hon ...
as So
*
Lam Suet
Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor.
Life and career
Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...
as Big-Head
*
Wong Tin-lam
Wong Tin-Lam (1927–2010) was a Chinese screenwriter, producer, director, and actor, who has contributed to the Hong Kong cinema scene with a career spanning six decades. He has made films in Cantonese, Mandarin and Amoy dialect.
Career
Wong ...
as Uncle Teng
*
Mark Cheng
Mark Cheng Ho-nam (born 6 October 1964) is a Hong Kong actor. He made his name with his first starring role in the movie ''Cupid One'' with Sally Yeh. He is also known for his role as "Lam Wing" in the 1996 film ''Tai Chi Boxer'' and FuXi in ''My ...
as Bo
*
Andy On
Andy On () (born May 11, 1977) is an American actor and martial artist.
Life and career
On was born on May 11, 1977, in Providence, Rhode Island. He is a native of the US, and can speak English, Mandarin, and a bit of Cantonese.
Andy On did n ...
as Lik
*
You Yong
You Yong (born 13 December 1963) is a Chinese actor. He enrolled in the Xi'an Drama School (西安话剧院) in 1979 and joined the Shanghai Theatre Academy
Shanghai Theatre Academy () is a public university in Shanghai, People's Republic of ...
as Assistant Police Chief Shi
*
Alan Chui Chung-San
Chui Chung-San (often known as Shu Zhong Xin, Hsu Zhong-Xin or Alan Hsu; 16 August 1952 – 2 November 2022) was a Hong Kong actor, director, choreographer, martial artist and stuntman. He was known for being an action director and stuntman. Ch ...
as Uncle Tank
Release
The film did not get a Mainland Chinese release, unlike the first film.
Reception
Festivals
The film first appeared at the 2006
Hong Kong International Film Festival
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong.
HKIFF screens around 230 films ...
. ''Election 2'' was also shown in "Out of Competition" (midnight screenings) section at the
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official selection Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the ...
,
where the movie was very well received by international critics. Afterward, ''Election 2'' became a popular hit on the international film festival circuit.
* Official Selection of
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 59th Cannes Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official selection Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the ...
(Out-of-Competition midnight screening)
* Official Selection of
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
,
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...
,
Pusan International Film Festival
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...
,
Festival de Cine de Sitges
The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy film, fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world ...
,
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
,
Melbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...
,
Stockholm International Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival ( sv, Stockholms filmfestival, italic=no) is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November.
The w ...
, Torino Film Festival,
AFI Fest,
Tokyo Filmex
TOKYO FILMeX (東京フィルメックス) is an international film festival established in 2000. The film festival was launched by Office Kitano, the agency and production company co-founded by leading actor-filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. TOKYO FILM ...
,
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...
,
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986.
The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...
,
Rotterdam Film Festival
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...
,
Mar del Plata Film Festival
The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fest ...
,
Philadelphia Film Festival
The Philadelphia Film Festival is a film festival founded by the Philadelphia Film Society held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The annual festival is held at various theater venues throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area.
Overview
The annual f ...
,
Indianapolis International Film Festival
Founded in 2004, the Indianapolis International Film Festival seeks to create a shared experience by championing films that entertain, challenge, and expand perspectives in Indianapolis and beyond. Indianapolis International Film Festival is als ...
,
Moscow International Film Festival
The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...
,
Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
.
Hong Kong distribution
* ''Election 2'' opened in Hong Kong on 27 April 2006 and grossed about HK$13.57 million domestically; it was less than the first film's earnings of HK$15.89 million, but HK$13.57 million was still quite high for a movie which received a
Category III rating (18+ restriction) in Hong Kong.
* The film was named best film of 2006 in the
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards () are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong since 1994. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the mem ...
.
* In 2007, the film was nominated for the following
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, ac ...
: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (
Simon Yam
Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...
) and Best Supporting Actor (
Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director.
Background
He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...
).
Worldwide distribution
''Election 2'' was sold to more than 21 territories, including
Tartan Films
Palisades Tartan is a British/American film distribution company, founded by US-based Palisades Media Group to take over the film library of film distributor Tartan Films after it folded in the summer of 2008.
History
Tartan Films, established i ...
for the United States,
Optimum Releasing
StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing), is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, British, ...
for the United Kingdom, ARP Selection for France, A-Film Distribution for Netherlands, Ripley's Film for Italy, Avalon Productions for Spain, NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia, Maywin Media for Russia, Fine Films for Japan,
Hopscotch Films
Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...
for Australia, California Filmes in Brazil and 791cine for Argentina.
In May 2006,
Tartan Films
Palisades Tartan is a British/American film distribution company, founded by US-based Palisades Media Group to take over the film library of film distributor Tartan Films after it folded in the summer of 2008.
History
Tartan Films, established i ...
acquired all United States distribution rights of ''Election 2''. Tartan Films released this movie in the US theatrically under the new title ''Triad Election'' on 25 April 2007. Despite receiving very little promotion, in the United States, the film still had the highest per-screen average box office on the weekend it opened.
Critical reception
''Election 2'' received generally positive reviews, with a 96% "Fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. In addition, it was ranked one of the top films of 2007 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
with a score of 83 out of 100.
Manohla Dargis
Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Career
Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that the movie is an "exemplary gangster thriller."
[Dargis, Manohla]
''Election 2'' review
''The New York Times'', 25 April 2007.
References
External links
Official website (US)IONCINEMA.com interviews Johnnie Toa
LoveHKFilm.comOfficial MySpace page (US)US movie trailer(QuickTime)
Hong Kong movie trailer(QuickTime)
a
Kaiju Shakedown which is ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
s
Asian cinema
Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia. However, in countries like the United States, it is often used to refer only to the cinema of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. West Asian cinema is ...
blog
Reviewat HKCuk.co.uk
Reviewat ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''
Reviewat ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
''
*
*
*
{{MilkywayImage
2006 films
2000s crime thriller films
2000s action films
Triad films
2000s Cantonese-language films
Milkyway Image films
Films directed by Johnnie To
Films with screenplays by Yau Nai-hoi
2000s Hong Kong films