By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
Triad Election (2005, *** 1/2)
STEEPED IN MANY OF THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS OF THE DECADE IN HONG KONG SINCE THE 1997 HANDOVER of the former British colony, a supple parable of the absorption of Hong Kong and Macau into the Chinese dragon, the eyes-wide, visceral, fluent, violent Triad Election is one of director Johnny To’s most accomplished. (Comparisons to the French master Jean-Pierre Melville, a major influence on John Woo, are not misplaced here, either.) Framed by a crooked real estate deal in Guangzhou, across the border from the former colony, that resembles the erection of airport and Disneyland on Lantau Island, To fully exploits the remarkable, diverse, compacted topography of the teeming city-state in a gleaming fashion that requires no special knowledge to appreciate. The plot’s about honor, and the selection of a new gangland boss for a two-year term, and to what violent temptations the half-dozen or so characters will succumb. (Think the dogs of Abu Ghraib, bloodied currency, Pollock-spattered walls, floors, and a meat grinder.) Scenes unfold with quiet alacrity: the coldest of killers glugs from a half-pint in a sack as he circles a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse where inside, the radar of the coolest of killers is tipped as he begins to order food. (There is also a horrific image of a luxury car driving to the horizon as we can still see through the windows three passengers claw-hammering a fourth to certain death.) Once power is consolidated, the victor is ensconced in the back of a luxury vehicle: is it any chance that the newspaper he reads is fronted by a picture of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (who retired in 2005 as this film was being shot)? The words “I believe in China” resound throughout with tremendous force, and the climactic meeting of the movie is cold and brilliant, almost as bold as the door slammed in Kay Corleone’s face. To is a genre technician of the highest order, and “Triad Election” boasts extremely fine widescreen work. [(Ray Pride.] (Now playing Chicago at the Music Box with Election; opens July 27 at Starz in Denver; August 1 at Austin’s Dobie.)