"Election" is so hard-boiled you'll need a shovel to crack its surface. It's so male they should have a warning sign for female audiences. And not just any male either, but the silent, unexpressive, tradition-entrenched ASIAN male. Directed by Hong Kong actionmeister Johnny To, "Election" reveals the inner workings of the Hong Kong underworld with much more grit and a lot less swank that what we've come to expect from gangster movies. There are no impeccable tuxedos and expensive cigars, no opulent weddings or even three-star restaurants (The bosses are content to slurp noodles at the stall like everyone else.) And, strangely enough, there are no guns.
The gangsters in "Election" go at each other with bare hands, knives or baseball bats -- in one sequence two traitorous bosses are abducted, then unceremoniously shoved into packing crates. The crates are then kicked down from a steep hill -- and they bump and crash against rocks during the hurtling descent. Upon reaching the bottom, the crates are then hauled back up and the same procedure is repeated, again and again. The screams of the bosses are muffled by the rolling/thudding sounds from the crates and the panting of the men as they laboriously pull the bloody cargo up the hill. Obviously, these guys think machine guns are boring.
"Election" is based on the real-life, democratic custom among the Hong Kong mafia to decide the next boss among a handful of elite candidates. In this film, the organization is called the Wu Shing Triad, whose history goes back centuries and is therefore heavy on rules and respect.