Triad Election (2006)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: C-
In one of
lamer, odder gangster films we have seen anywhere in a while, Johnnie To’s Triad Election (2006) tells the strange
story about a triad who can get a deal with the Chinese government to have some
free reign over an empire if the current head of affairs steps down, but he
would rather die gloriously than walk away, so conflict results with the new
potential electee who would rather not be involved. Too bad China’s offer is so good. The idea is interesting, but To is a good
director and manages to mess this one up.
One
problem is that the film becomes far too involved with old conventions and even
clichés, which immediately takes it out of the big leagues of better gangster
tales from Year Of The Dragon to Miller’s Crossing. So much so in fact that it does not look,
feel or play like a Hong Kong production in a way that is not to its
advantage. The scenes of violence and
torture get stupid very quickly and the film eventually implodes on
itself. If you want to see this one,
vote no!
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is not bad, but too soft and detail
challenged too often. I doubt Director
of Photography Cheung Siu Keung, H.K.S.C., intended this to look like this, but
I would like to see certain scenes in HD and 35mm for comparison purposes, so
odd are some of the shots. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 mixes are better, if not great, with the DTS having a
slight edge. Unfortunately, there is
some compression in both showing multi-channel sound is no the primary goal in
the original sound mixing. Extras
include a making of featurette, original theatrical trailer and two separate
interviews with actors Lam Suet & Lam Ka Tung.
- Nicholas Sheffo
