“Election 2″ – Even Better!
Sequels rarely match the feat of their originals, but Johnny To’s sequel to his smash hit “Election” is a killer product. “Election 2″ also known as “Triad Election” is even more stylish and a lot more violent, with a deeper look into its captivating characters. Power corrupts, and Johnny To drills it in with a character pool soaked in deception and greed.
After winning the last election and becoming chairman of the Wo Sing triad, Lok (Simon Yam) earns the respect of the elders and young alike for all have equally prospered under his reign. 2 years have passed and it is time for the baton to be passed on to someone else.
The smart, young, college educated businessman Jimmy (Louis Koo) is the obvious choice, though there are others also competing for the same chair. Matters get complicated when Lok himself decides to break tradition and run for a second term, a decision most members of the fraternity don’t take too kindly to. War is on the cards, and a dangerous, brutally violent game of deception ensues.
“Election 2″ is driven by a sensationally restrained performance by its lead star Louis Koo. Johnny To pulls out all stops and keeps the adrenaline pumping through this cold-hearted thrill ride. The narrative is not only as fast paced as its predecessor, it is also a lot more cohesive. The characters are flawed, and their multidimensionality hooks the viewer tight, keeping them guessing each player’s next move, and successfully surprising them too. Robert Ellis-Geiger’s stunning score too deserves special mention.
The “Election” movies are the kind of hugely entertaining films that stay with you: the kind you can come back to a few months later, perhaps watch them back to back. Highly recommended.
Tags: Chinese
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Mindblowing…Too fucking good.
“perhaps watch them back to back”
Vijay.. This is exactly what i did today at Arclights..Though i didnt quite like the Election..but the desicion we made to watch the second part turned out soooo good. I havent come out of a cinem hall speechless like i had today for such a log time. If anyone says the action in Oldboy was terrific…bloody watch election Triad. Words cant describe it..just go and watch it. To all PFC’ians… This is a must watch movie…please do not miss it. Louis koo was amazing in this movie..who is he… christ..cant stop raving about him. Fuck awesome..bloody too awesome a movie
Saw this yesterday, too. Election was good, but nothing great. Triad Election was one of the most amazing movies I have seen in a long time.
The first thing I did after watching the film was to look at my mobile phone to see what time it was. I knew the movie was supposed to be 90 minutes long, but it felt like 1/2 hour. I don’t remember the last time I got that lost in a movie.
As you mentioned, the soundtrack was fabulous. I also loved the introduction of American/Mexican music into this movie, as if to highlight the higher class of clubs the gang was hanging out in after getting very rich between movies.
What also impressed me was the way that Lok’s character was shown to have degenerated from smart to violent (something he warned against in the first movie), yet this was shown subtly, with the introduction of guns, the increasing level of violence, and if I mention any more I will spoil the movie. It isn’t often that you see an action/gangster/mafia movie that plays this funny, this smart, this engaging.
I Googled Louis Koo last night, turns out he is an HK action hero with a string of mediocre movies. I hope this movie changes his career, his acting was amazing, going from tough to violent to hurt to loving with a range of facial expressions I can’t compare to any other actor. Although, the entire cast was amazing….
I can’t wait for the third installment, and I can’t recommend this movie highly enough.
Hello,
I am the composer for Election 2. I am glad that you guys liked my music. It was a very different score for Johnnie To and a unique process for composer and director.
You can access a demo of my music that contains music cues from Election 2 and a new movie that I completed a few weeks ago. Access from:
www.MusicSound.net
Let me know what you think.
By the way, the new movie is directed by Patrick Tam and is called “After This Our Exile” in Chinese the title is “Father and Son.”
At the Toyko
International Film Festival the movie won, Best Asian Film, Best Artistic
Contribution (out of all International and Asian Films), which I can also
lay claim to. Have a read of Roger Garcia’s review below.
http://www.tiff-jp.net/enjoy/official_report/enasiawind.php?itemid=224
Regards,
Robert Ellis-Geiger
- Robert, Welcome to Passion For Cinema. We are honored to have you here… I’m sorry about the delay in your comment being published as it was stuck in our spam filter.
Hey Robert…Welcome to PFC. BGM for Election was indeed phenominal. Would love to go thru your work.the fascinating thing about the music in the movie was..it kept me gripped all the time..though there were very few dialogues. Good Job Robert: Impressed!!!!
Robert,
Thank’s for the links, and I am glad you found this community!
I have been raving about your soundtrack for the last week, really it is one of the best original soundtracks I have heard in a long time. I can’t wait to hear more….
Hello Oz, OM and T,
Thank you guys for such a warm welcome and appreciation of my music. Every now and again I search the internet to see if there are any new comments on my music as I am very interested in the reaction of audiences from all over the world. Which part of the world are you guys from?
Keeping the audience gripped and often going against the action was the direction from Johnnie To. Johnnie To explained to me early in our collaboration that the movie is made up of four parts that could be summarised as starting with: 1- Slight hope for the future, but hidden worries, 2-Delima, should Jimmy go back into the Triads? At what cost?. 3-All out war, no turning back 4-Deal with the Devil (China Government Officials).
So Johnnie asked me to compose four long pieces of music that reflected the mood and atmosphere of the four parts of the film. The music was then placed within the film and adjustments made. This was a reverse process of Hollywood’s normal spotting session with the director and composer. We did the spotting after the music was composed into 4 long pieces. Have a read of the following article:
http://www.proaudioasia.com/paa/article.asp?cid=695
My music for the new movie “After This Our Exile” is totally different in style to Election 2, but I am using similar instrumentation with the addition of piano. DuDuk and Guitar. This score is very melodic with influences of Malaysian and Spanish blended with Classical strings.
I am now working on a powerful film documentary “Storm Under The Sun” about Chairman Mao and his terrible treatment of intellectuals in China, will let you know once completed.
Cheers,
Robert
Hi Guys,
I forgot to mention that the main guitar theme from Election 1 by Taiwanese pop composer Lo Ta Yu was used twice within the movie for narrative purpose. The character Jimmy and Jet were friends in Election-1, in Election-2 they are out to kill each other.
Regards,
Rob
Thank you, Robert!
What is your future project?
(By the way, only “Election 2″ will be released in US theaters….)
Oh…. You have already talked about your future project….
I should read your posts more carefully before asking question….
Robert,
I live in Southern California, as do Oz and OM.
Didn’t the main guitar theme from Election 1 also open Election 2? I seem to remember that. And, who was the person who made the decision to use western pop music in Election 2? I really thought that was an interesting narrative choice….
I read the link you posted, it sounds as if you guys ran a marathon! Too bad I know little about music recording and much of that went over my head…
Thank’s for sharing that information with us, After This Our Exile sounds like an interesting film.
Is the Mao documentary being made in HK or elsewhere? How tough is it to make that type of documentary in China at this time?
Hello T,
The opening of Election 2 is my music, strings and percussion. The only time that the one piece from Election 1 was used is after the restaurant scene with Jimmy, his wife and Jet in the car. Then the other time is near the end when Jimmy picks up Jet and saves him from being bashed up by a street gang.
The choice and placement of music was all made by Jonnie To.
The Mao documentary is being made in corporation by a Beijing director and Hong Kong producer. I am not sure how the film will be distributed, that will be interested to see.
i was just wondering where i can download the ending theme from election 2 thew movie.its sounds very awesome
Dear All,
Have a look at Hong Kong first film orchestral recording session at:
http://www.MusicSound.net
I re-orchestrated the title for Election 2 and for After This Our Exile, I heop you enjoy it.
whats the name of the music when Jimmy pick up Jet when he is being chased. I can’t find an answer and I really like it
should have said its during when he see’s him getting chased as well. Starts of with a kind of drum then sounds like a guitar
@ Korben,
I don’t think the Election 2 soundtrack was ever released. But, if you check out comment 15, “Robert” is Robert Ellis-Geiger, the soundtrack composer. Click the link to go to his website, you may be able to ask him directly ;)
Just saw the film again this weekend. Man, what a wonderful film…
t! waiting for the “P”
I went to the site and got the hi res sample. Not sure where it on there. Just noticed it’s on the end credits as well. I just finished watching a few minutes ago.
I don’t think even Michael Corlenoe was ruthless and cold as was Jimmy. Mindblowing.
Hey i like the music from election 2 & movie too as i bought it not long ago, i also notice some girl singing in that restaurant/bar when simon yam(lok) & louis koo(jimmy) where chatting when they didnt seem to get on, who is that song by out of interest?
The song is called “House of the Rising Sun” and theres been a lot of artists that have covered it but my favorite is the one by The Animals
Geat film it is, love it & music is cool too, gd stuff !
I have been trying to find the intro theme for both of the election movies, does anyone know who the composer is and what the piece is called?
@NK, look up. Comment # 3. The composer himself has commented on the post
Dear All, I am the composer for Election 2. You might like to visit my new website.
http://www.VisioinSonics.net
I am working on a High Res version of music that has been composed for various films and new material that I am working on currently.
Cheers,
Robert
Robert, i remember you dropping on PFC about a little more than a year ago…we had a dialog then too…i am a huge fan of the movie and music of Election Triad…one of my fav movies ever. Please keep making some amazing work :-) Good Luck
Thanks a lot for your support. I am working on a film documentary and have an exciting Sci Fi film in the pipe-line. I am also working on a very unique album in surround.