Such a frustrating disappointment

Best movie ever!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Not Alexander's Payne Oscar nominated comedy, this Johnnie To drama of the same name focuses on division within Hong Kong's high profile gangs as they try to choose a new chairman for the local triad. It is a curious choice of title because while a new leader is eventually elected through senior members voting, it is not as simple as all that with violence, ever-changing alliances and greed get in the way of an ostensibly democratic system. Released within months of To's breathtaking 'Breaking News', it is hard not to draw comparisons between the two films and this latter effort feels somewhat restrained in contrast. The violence, while graphic, is noticeably minimal considering the gangs involved. To's decision to focus on all sides of the election conflict also makes it difficult to get under the characters' skins. There is such an extensive amount of pivotal characters here that it is sometimes hard to keep track of who is who. And yet, the film has so many memorable scenes that it is hard to dismiss altogether. A porcelain spoon eating scene stands out the most, but the initiation rituals are fascinating too, and there is a part where a wooden log is used on a victim cowering in tall grass, plus the not-so-idyllic final fishing scene is shocking brutal. Cited by Quentin Tarantino as his favourite film of the year and selected to compete at the Cannes Film Festival, the film certainly has a lot of interest for its insight into ritualistic gangs where the most important decisions come in words rather than actions, but one's mileage with the film is likely to vary.

This film has its upsides. It's shot with style, the characters all feel unique and identifiable, the action scenes are really gruesome, violent and stylistic, the pacing is a bit slow yet it feels just right and in the end the story isn't half bad either. Unfortunately the movie has some flaws as well. The characters feel unique, but there's way too many of them. It took me easily two thirds of the film to just start recognizing different faces from one another and the movie didn't exactly help, as the two main characters were quickly referenced by name, but it wasn't made clear just who they were on the screen. Perhaps I had extra difficulty differentiating Asian faces from one another as a Caucasian, but the problem still remains.Aside from that there weren't any major problems. The story itself was a bit weird, as there were many scenes where the movie just seemed to end - or at least it felt like it would be a suitable ending - but then the movie just continued. The actual ending was a bit surprising, but not in a bad way, really. Especially when one realized that the movie actually has a sequel.All in all, it's a good gangster film. The actors are talented, the action works and the story is captivating.

Johnnie To's ELECTION has some cool music on the opening credits—and a nice opening credits' design too, a kaleidoscope of Chinese characters and those Asian mobsters solemnly taking an oath or uttering some sacred stuff; as a matter of fact the whole flick is nicely scored. I have found about To from Bishop Seraphim Sigrist and was quite eager to see a To movie. The one with which I began, ELECTION, is exciting and interesting, and only moderately violent by nowadays standards—moderately and also essentially violent; the story of an Asian godfather's scheming, it uses a puzzle play of elements, violent facts from the mobsters' lives, the race for the scepter, true details, and as with Coppola we are expected to believe that some of the morally glamorized mobsters are entitled and nice and likable. The performances are reasonably amusing and colorful.ELECTION is well made in the enjoyable, somewhat careless style of the Hong Kong fare; the ending is bitter, true, straight and will scare the kids.

I had interest in watching Election (2005) because of all the excellent commentaries I had heard about it.Now,after watching this film,I can say it's not bad but it disappointed me.Let's see the bad points from this movie.I felt the story from this movie excessively confusing.I always appreciate narrative complexity on a movie but what I do not appreciate is when the narrative complexity becomes very confusing and that's what happened to this movie.I thought the story should have been told in a more clear way without losing the narrative complexity.I also felt this movie has some redundant moments which do not add too much to the story.In summary,I think a more clear story and more focus on the editing would have made a much better movie.Now,I have to mention some positive elements.With some exceptions,the film did not bore me and I found interesting the implicit comparison this movie makes between gangsters and politicians.But,in spite of that positive elements,this movie did not result too satisfactory in my case.Maybe,I was expecting too much,I do not know.I think I can recommend this movie but I do not think I can recommend it with much enthusiasm.