Hak se wui (2005)

Director:

Johnnie To

Writers:

Nai-Hoi Yau (written by) &
Tin-Shing Yip (written by)

Release Date:

20 October 2005 (China)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A drama-thriller centered on a democratic election within an organized crime society. |

Plot Keywords:

Election | Triad | Organized Crime | Car Accident | Loyalty

Awards:

10 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Simon Yam	...	Lam Lok
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Big D
Louis Koo	...	Jimmy Lee
Nick Cheung	...	Jet
Ka Tung Lam	...	Kun (as Lam Ka Tung)
Siu-Fai Cheung	...	Mr. So (as Cheung Siu Fai)
Suet Lam	...	Big Head (as Lam Suet)
Tian-lin Wang	...	Uncle Teng Wai (as Wong Tin Lam)
Ping-Man Tam	...	Uncle Cocky (as Tam Ping Man)
Maggie Siu	...	Mrs. Big D (as Maggie Shiu)
David Chiang	...	Chief Superintendent Hui
Yong You	...	China Police Captain (as Yao Yung)
Chung Wang	...	Whistle (as Wong Chung)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Siu-Pang Chan	...	Uncle Monk (as Chan Siu Pang)
Biu Law Che	...	Tally (as Paul Ng)
Chi Ping Cheung	...	Uncle Dead Dog
Hoi Chau Ho	...	Uncle Double East (as Ho Hoi Chau)
Robert Hung	...	Sonny
Ching Kwan	...	Brother Tung
Fung Kwok	...	Fish Ball (as Kwok Fung)
Wing-cheong Law	...	Four Eye
Jonathan Lee	...	Denny Lam
Wen-wei Lin	...	Sparky (as Lam Man Wai)
Ting Yip Ng	...	Senior Inspector Tod (as Ng Yuk Sau)
Sin San	...	Uncle Long Gun (as Yuen-Yin Yu)
Chiu Chi Shing	...	Long Hair (as Chiu Chi Shing)
Pui Chung Tong	...	Uncle Chiu Chow (as Tong Pui Chung)
Chi Wai Wong	...	Blackie (as Wong Chi Wai)
Ho-Yin Wong	...	Detective Wong (as Raymond Wong)
Sze Yan Wong	...	Chak (as Wong Sze Wan)
Wah Wo Wong	...	Triad Leader
Ronald Yan	...	Senior Inspector Yu
Bo Yuen	...	Dinosaur
Bun Yuen	...	Incense Master (as Yuen Bun)

Also Known As:

Election (International: English title) (UK)
Black Society (Hong Kong: Cantonese title) (literal English title)
Election: Vol 1 (UK) (DVD box title)
Election: Volume 1 (UK) (DVD title)
Hei she hui (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Longcheng suiyue (China: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

France:101 min (Cannes Film Festival) | USA:100 min | China:85 min (cut version) | Argentina:100 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:III | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Brazil:18 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | Malaysia:18PL | France:-12 | Finland:K-18 | USA:Unrated | Germany:18 | Norway:11 | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Argentina:13 | Japan:R-15

Filming Locations:

Central, Hong Kong, China

Company:

China Star Entertainment

Trivia:

Quentin Tarantino loved this film so much; his quote "The Best Film of the Year" is on this film's United States DVD cover.

Quotes:

Big D: [to Lok] Don't talk to me until you have the baton!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai (2006)

Soundtrack:

FOREVER SMILE

A good watch

Personally, I find the movie to be quite a good watch. It outlines the actual situation of triads in Hong Kong and gives the viewer a glimpse of how triads are organized.

Not only that, it also shows the viewer how the Hong Kong police control the triad situation and why the police don't just go all out and wipe out triads.

Overall, the movie is rather violent due to the gangland methods of killings & torture. Nevertheless, the movie stays true to the real world, thus the violence on screen is just a reflection of what really happens.

I'd recommend this movie to any Triad/Mafia movie fan. Another good watch would be Dragon Squad. That movie has more guns than this, as in this movie there's more knives than guns (in fact I don't remember seeing a single gun).