Cast: Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung, Gordon Lam, Cheung Siu-fai, Lam Suet, Wong Tin-lam, Tam Ping-man, Maggie Shiu, David Chiang, You Yong, Berg Ng, Raymond Wong. Screenplay: Yau Nai-Hoi, Yip Tin-shing. Cinematography: Cheng Siu-Keung. Art direction: Tony Yu. Film editing: Patrick Tam. Music: Lo Ta-Yu.
If nothing else, Johnnie To's Election shows that you don't need guns to take out your enemies: A large rock, a log, a tree branch, or even a passing car will do the job. And you can soften up a guy by nailing him in a crate and rolling him down a steep hill a couple of times. This is a gangster film without much glamour beyond the swagger provided by Tony Leung Ka-fai as Big D, whose opponent in the election to head up their Hong Kong triad is the more reserved Lok (Simon Yam). Mostly these gangsters are older guys, many of them referred to as "uncle," and with nicknames like Big Head, Whistle, Fish Ball, and Four Eye. When Lok defeats Big D in the first round of the election, complications ensue, much of them centered on finding and possessing the film's MacGuffin, a carved dragon head that's a symbol of authority from the days of the formation of the triad -- which we see re-created in a flashback. Election is often hard to follow, partly because allegiances to Lok and Big D are somewhat fluid, but it repays attention as a vivid portrait of a subculture.
