Arashis Matsumoto Jun stars in the NHK drama special Eien no Nispa
...Johnnie To offers a very different take on the Hong Kong triad genre in Election. Simon Yam Tat Wah & Tony Leung Ka Fai portray two triad leaders who struggle with each other to head the Wo Sing Society. The film never romanticizes triad leaders as heroes (like the Young & Dangerous series), nor condemns them as criminals, but offers an extremely realistic portrayal of gangsters as human beings.
Apart from the two superstars Simon Yam & Tony Leung as potential Chairpersons Big D & Lok respectively, the film also has Louis Koo playing the young, brilliant, & college-educated rising star in the triad. Veteran Wong Tin Lam is the influential senior triad member Uncle Teng. Well-experienced actors including Nick Cheung, Eddie Cheung, Lam Suet, & Gordon Lam, who has excelled in many other Johnnie To movies, vividly portray other gangsters in the film, & Maggie Shiu is Tony Leungs wife.
The film title Election already spells out the plot: it follows the Chairman selection process in the Wo Sing Society. The film opens with the ceremonial rituals of the Chairmans inauguration, which reminds us of the Societys origin being a centuries-old institution once with a virtuous aim of overthrowing tyranny. Ironically, while the head of the Wo Sing Society is still elected by senior triad members nowadays, the temperamental Big D (Tong Leung) & the calculating Lok (Simon Yam) both attempt to beat their competitors by all means, including bribing the seniors & bullying the opponents.
The intervention from the police & Uncle Teng (Wong Tin Lam), & the conflicts & cooperation among the junior triad members, etc, lead to complicated politics &, undoubtedly, fierce fights as well. Even without a single gunshot, the film still contains plenty of spectacular actions alongside in-depth depiction of human nature during power struggle. Johnnie To enriches the film with a political allusion to the present day Hong Kong, making this excellent title more than just another triad movie.